


Grey and Complicated

by Gamebird



Series: Grey Order [4]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Hux is also asexual, Hux is competent and made of steel, M/M, Morally complicated, Only one explicit chapter near the end, but see the pairings, many other characters get cameos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-22
Updated: 2018-01-28
Packaged: 2019-03-08 05:40:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 53,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13451691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gamebird/pseuds/Gamebird
Summary: Following the Battle of Crait, Ben and Rey try to repair their love life and the political structure of the galaxy. Hux and Poe help out. Short appearances by many other characters.





	1. First Day on the Job

**A/N: Casualty numbers derived from star destroyer complement numbers on Wookieepedia, with some modifications for degree of damage. Number of star destroyers escorting the** _**Supremacy** _ **per canon, although I could only count about half that on screen at any one time.**

_Day 1 after the Battle of Crait_

Kylo Ren woke in a sweat, though he didn't know what he was afraid of. He had a vague feeling of dread, like the other shoe would drop … soon. Perhaps in hours. Perhaps in days. He sat up, panting, and moved to the edge of the bed. He threw the smothering blanket from him and tried to make sense of the events from the day before.

Snoke was dead. He'd killed him. Luke was dead. He'd killed him, too, or at least provoked Luke to do something that caused Luke's death. Kylo had no doubt about that. Maintaining that complete a projection in the Force, for that long, had to have been what caused the fading of Luke's life force a few minutes later. Rey had refused him. He didn't know what to do about that. He didn't know what it meant. He just knew he needed her, wanted her in his life and yet, she had rejected him, utterly. He buried his face in his hands.

Maybe that was what the dread was about. She was still out there. She was a danger, but he couldn't bring himself to think about what he ought to do about it. Finally, he decided to simply accept it – wait, be patient, pretend she just needed time and space to reconsider. He had everything, after all – the First Order, training in the Force, power, and the companionship he knew she craved. The Force would bring them back together. All he had to do was not screw it up this time, not make his grandfather's mistakes. Because yes, he knew what those were. He hadn't found the man's helmet without a long and thorough search for everything Darth Vader and Anakin Skywalker.

Ren didn't want to consider what he'd done wrong, mostly because he didn't know. Instead, he rose, dressed, and walked down eerily quiet corridors. He checked the time. The place shouldn't exactly have been bustling, but there weren't even droids out and about. It was bad enough that he reached out his senses. His concern was allayed – there were still people on board. The ship was functioning. There just weren't very many in this area.

He made his way to the bridge. There, he found life – a dozen conversations going on at once with more confusion than Ren had ever seen in Hux's presence. And Hux was there. Perfectly coifed, flawless uniform, and poised even though his lower lip was swollen, his brow and chin were bruised, and his throat looked like someone had tried to strangle him multiple times. It was true enough. The man glanced up at him, then went back to reading his datapad.

Kylo looked out the viewports. The star field featured the aft of two star destroyers. One was the  _Finalizer_ , which he was well familiar with and recognized even though it was at a distance. It appeared undamaged, as far as he could tell. The other ship he suspected was the  _Retribution_. He wasn't sure because its surface was pitted with damage – what of it was left. The hulk was closer, not level compared to the  _Supremacy_ , and was missing a third of its structure like someone had run a lightsaber down it. A steady stream of small vessels and what were probably repair units were moving around the missing volume.

It was then that Kylo remembered seeing the damage left by the impact of the  _Raddus_. He'd been looking out the port as their shuttle descended towards Crait. Even given the things Kylo Ren had seen in his travels, it was astonishing. It felt like a ripple in the Force – a small one, but he was right there in the middle of it.

He didn't even remember it happening, but somehow he knew that colossal impact had coincided with his unconsciousness, with losing his grip on Anakin's lightsaber, with Rey slapping him down using the hammer blow of her allies. It was a dramatic example of the violence of the light side of the Force in use, just as much as the destruction of either of the Death Stars, or Starkiller Base. Or, he supposed, the Hosnian system or Alderaan, although those had been the acts of the dark side. Both could kill on a vast scale.

He turned back to Hux, who had finished with his datapad and was talking to an officer. Kylo strode towards him slowly. Hux glanced at him again and wrapped up the conversation with, "Use your best judgment. I trust in your training." The general turned to Kylo. "Supreme Leader." There was a slight tone of reservation, but he said it more loudly than necessary.

Kylo looked at the man's face, studying it. Hux was, theoretically, his second in command now. He led the military, first among a few other generals, admirals, and planetary governors, with a collection of captains and commanders arranged under them, and so on down the chain of command to the lowliest of troopers. Kylo Ren was not and never had been part of that organization. He did not share training, classes, missions, or background with them. Snoke's Force-users were entirely separate, more removed from the standard military than even the technician class, which included scientists and engineers. He'd worked with Hux at times, but never needed to understand him. There was a lot of friction between them.

So he read the man's mind, leaving his hand at his side and merely leaning forward slightly as he did it. It was not an extensive probe, but Hux felt it anyway. The general's left eye twitched. There was anger in him that Kylo would do this to him here on the bridge, no better than Snoke, right after he'd publicly addressed him properly with the title Kylo had seized in a highly questionable manner. He was no more than a violent usurper – one whom Hux was trying to legitimize for the good of the Order. Any appearance of dissent between them would be disastrous. Hux reached up and rubbed at his eye. "Would you like a situation review, Supreme Leader?"

Kylo drew in a deep breath and looked around the bridge. Half the people there quickly diverted their eyes back to their work. "Yes, General. In private."

"Of course." Hux nodded to one of the other officers. "Commander Adar, you're in charge." The general clasped his hands behind himself and led Kylo to one of the nearby rooms set aside for conference and strategic review. He went to parade rest, putting his gaze on the far wall. "You wanted to speak with me?"

Kylo prowled around him at arm's length, resisting the impulse to fully circle the man like a predator. But his eyes barely left him. Hux was dangerous. That sense of dread was still in his mind, but it seemed no more intense now than it had been when he woke. Satisfied the general wasn't the source, Kylo took a seat. "You offered a situation review?"

"Yes." Hux glanced at him, then went back to scrutinizing the wall and keeping his mind carefully blank. "Of the thirty star destroyers we had with us, seven have been irreparably destroyed – no survivors. Two others are damaged too severely to recover in any useful capacity, but there were a few survivors of those. Rescue operations are continuing. There may be some residual salvage value.

"Two others have severe damage. They are not operational, but if they could be relocated to dock, there is enough intact to make restoration economical. More than half their crew survived. I am having them relocated to the  _Supremacy_  docks, and for now, survivors on-boarded. There are two other star destroyers with minimal damage from the shockwave and debris. They will be fully operational within a week and can perform adequately for now. The remaining seventeen ships were entirely unaffected.

"We are still assessing the condition of the  _Supremacy_ , but as you know, it is in pieces. Life support obviously functions, although reliably only for about a third of the vessel. For the rest, it is so far intermittent. I am confidently informed that it is safe to remain aboard, although if it were not, most would die anyway as we would be hard pressed to evacuate the entire ship quickly enough in the case of a catastrophic loss. I have a team evaluating our transport options, should that situation arise."

"Ah."

"We have an estimated casualty count approaching two million people. Fatalities. I haven't bothered counting the wounded. Besides, they haven't stopped dying yet. The medbays are well beyond capacity – all of them, on all ships."

"Ah," Kylo said again. He looked at Hux's bruises and understood – such minor injuries could be treated with no more than a poultice slapped over it for an hour. But to take up the slightest medical resource, even simply the attention and direction of a droid to point out the stocking location of the bandages, meant someone in more need would go without that bit of attention. He wondered how Hux had put together this much information in the little time he'd had available. He seemed on top of things. Kylo had slept well less than the standard eight hours. "Have you slept at all?"

"Yes. Three hours. I am taking stimulants. I am functional, Supreme Leader."

"Not very," Kylo said bluntly. "What if we're attacked?"

He sounded tired. "If we are attacked, then I will be awake. Lives depend on my performance."

It was difficult to refute that, so Kylo didn't try. "Are there any current threats to us?" Kylo tried to wrap his mind around the enormity of the situation. The cost to wipe out the last of the Resistance had been staggering, on top of the loss of Starkiller Base. He hadn't paid any attention to it when it wasn't his problem. Now it was.

"Not from without, no. But I have made an announcement to the High Command of Supreme Leader Snoke's death and that you have assumed his position. It is my belief they will not be in agreement for you keeping it. I have told them I would give more information within the next cycle."

"We'll see about that," Ren said darkly of the High Command's threat to remove him.

Hux was still staring blankly at the far wall. "Permission to speak freely, sir?"

"You've never needed that before."

"You've never been my superior officer before. Sir."

Kylo gazed at him steadily. Things had changed and not just for himself. "Granted."

Hux's eyes came to him and stayed there. "I want what is best for the First Order. I am aware of our … options for a supreme leader. I believe you are the best suited for the role, difficult as that may be to grasp. However … unlike a replacement drawn from the High Command, I do not believe you have had any effective training for it. With all respect, I ask you, are you amenable to … guidance?"

He started reading Hux's mind again. Hux blinked, dropped his eyes for a moment, then brought them back up. Kylo frowned and said, "It's not helpful that you're sensitive to this and know how to frame your surface thoughts."

"Do a deeper probe. You know I can't defend against it. Take whatever you need."

"Perhaps so, but you're not even resisting. Why?"

 _It's pointless and I'm exhausted_ , Hux's mind supplied. "Because I am being entirely honest with you and it is critical that you know that. I have nothing to hide. Snoke promoted me to my position not only due to diligence and competence, which is true despite having been tasked with the impossible more times than I can count, but because I am loyal to the Order all … the way … through. I am very familiar with my many weaknesses and deficiencies, thanks to him," Hux hated Snoke and was terrified of him, "but I am also aware of my strengths and what makes me useful. The same will be of use to you." ' _And I'm willing to put up with you, unlike most_ ,' also went through Hux's mind.

"Loyal to the Order, but not to Snoke?"

"He was the supreme leader. I served him with complete faithfulness. Just as I will serve you, should you allow it."  _And upon your death, I'll find someone else or do the job myself if necessary. He's reading my thoughts. Well, it's not like I want the job at the moment and he knows that._  Hux thought that last with decided intensity. Ren assumed he was trying to conceal his raw ambition for the throne. That didn't bother Kylo much. He didn't really want the title, but he had it and the Order needed him.

"Why do you think I'm the best choice if I haven't had the right training?"

 _Because you're malleable_. "My position is secure if you are the supreme leader. There is no one who would trade places with me and be first in line for the mistreatment you and Snoke so publicly mete out. The other candidates have their own staff, favorites, and agenda for the Order. They have no need of me if you are gone and less appreciation than I would prefer for the Order."  _They have no ideals._  "They have no skill with the Force, which while I have mixed personal feelings about it," this was a lie – Hux uniformly hated the Force, "I am fully convinced of its efficacy."

"Because I'm malleable," Kylo repeated. It was unsurprising, really, since Snoke had treated them both that way and spoken openly about it. He could imagine what gloating comments Snoke had made separately to Hux the way he'd done about Hux to Kylo. It was strangely refreshing to know for a fact that someone simply wanted to manipulate him. There was no deceit or sugar-coating to it, no twisted-up emotions hoping for someone else's approval.

"Yes sir," Hux agreed, without a trace of embarrassment at being called out on the stray thought. "I have directions I would like to see the First Order go. I think with you as the supreme leader, my interests will receive a fairer hearing than with others."

Not only was Hux honest, but he was also shameless. Kylo checked to see how far that went. "You hate me."

"True."

All the way, as it turned out. Loyal, faithful, useful – but none of those meant he liked Ren. Kylo snorted. "And you think I will listen to you fairly?"

"Yes." Hux tilted his head slightly and raised his brows. "As you are … even now … listening to me fairly."

Kylo's brows lowered and he pulled his head back, but it was true.

Hux went on, "You have allowed me to explain myself. You are able to do something that no other can with certainty – you can verify that I am telling the truth and wish to serve the Order's best interests. If that is not valuable to you, if your interests are opposed to those of the Order itself, then … we can go our separate ways."  _Or he'll probably kill me, but he might as well at that point because I won't give up trying to get rid of him._

"No," Kylo said softly, thinking about it, "that's useful to me. Snoke called you a rabid cur. I'm not seeing it."

Hux smiled, which turned into a smirk. "Then you're not looking deeply enough." He gave a small bow. "I am at your service, Supreme Leader. Do you want my suggestions as to a direction for your first day?"

"Yes." He'd been, honestly, feeling a bit lost as to how to tackle everything at once. Or, even, anything. Two million dead? And for what on the Resistance side? A few hundred?

Hux nodded and thought for a moment, his mind sorting through the options. "Familiarize yourself with Snoke's personal staff and the resources reserved for the use of the supreme leader. Give some thought to how you wish to present yourself. Image is important. I would suggest a portrayal that is less rash and temperamental than how you have been in the past. Make no public proclamations or formal communications with anyone in the chain of command. I do not want to be distracted today doing public relations clean-up after you. We can meet at the end of the next shift to frame what I should relay on to the High Command."

Kylo huffed. "Take over Snoke's toys and stay out of your way, is that it?"

"For today, yes," Hux said patiently. "You don't know how to do your job yet. We're in the middle of a crisis situation that you can easily make far worse. There is no succession plan or training program for the supreme leader that you can pull up on a datapad and enroll in. I don't know everything Snoke had. His staff will. You need to get command of them in any case. They're your employees, not mine, and  _leading_  starts with knowing your people."

Kylo considered and finally nodded. "I'll do what you have suggested. I may also take a tour of the damage."

"Very good, sir." There was a long pause as Kylo thought things over. "Am I dismissed?" Hux asked.

Kylo blinked at how very different this all was – being asked permission for so many things. Hux had barely deigned to talk to him before. He nodded. "Dismissed." The feeling of dread remained.


	2. Icebreaker

**A/N: In this chapter, italics are for side conversations on Rey's end and underscored lines are side conversations on Ben's side. The Resistance has made it to an undisclosed location to regroup and consider their next steps.**

_Day 1_

The Force bond opened.

"I- I don't want to talk to you!" Rey said as soon as she saw him. She was scandalized that he'd even attempt it after what had happened on Crait.

"It wasn't my idea," Ben answered. "This is not the best time for me, either. I'm in the middle of a calibration run." He kept breaking eye contact with her to look at something she couldn't perceive.

_Finn asked, "What?"_

"No, not you!" she replied.

"What?" Ben asked. "Are there others there?"

" _Not me, what?" Finn asked. She was looking in his direction._

"Cut it off. I'm not going to talk to you," Rey insisted.

_Rose asked, "Are you okay, Rey?"_

_Poe said quietly, "Something's going on, guys."_

"Commander?" Kylo's comm channel replied to his chatter.

"I'll try," Ben answered.

"Commander?" they asked again.

"Yes, I'm receiving," Kylo said into his comm, though they had clearly heard the rest of what he'd said.

"Yes, I'm fine," Rey answered, looking to Rose. Then looking back in Finn's direction, she snapped, "Why are you still there? What are you receiving?"

_Finn asked, "Rey?"_

"I'm trying," Ben said. "I didn't start this." It was difficult to focus, though.

"The other three units are at coordinates eight-five and-"

"Yes, I see them," Kylo cut off the comm officer, who was simply trying to respond to Kylo's question, 'are there others there?' from before.

"You do?" Rey said, alarmed.

_Poe asked, "Rey, who are you talking to?"_

_Finn, "Me, right?"_

" _No." Poe shook his head. "She's talking to someone else."_

_Kaydel nodded. "He's right."_

"No, I don't," Ben answered.

"Do you want us to repeat the coordinates, sir?"

"No, I don't," Kylo responded with an intimidating edge to his voice.

"I heard you the first time," Rey said. Her expression was confused, particularly because of the odd tonal shift in Ben's voice. "It's Ben," she said to the others, because she couldn't think of a quick way not to admit to the bond that didn't make her sound mentally unbalanced.

_Finn was confused. "Who's Ben?"_

"Ben Solo. Kylo Ren," she clarified.

"Yes?" Ben answered, looking to her.

"Not you!" she said. He flinched from the strength of her response, ducking his head and looking down as though to study the controls of his ship.

_Finn boggled. "You're talking to Kylo Ren? How? Is he here?"_

"Commander?"

_Poe put in, "It's through the Force. It has to be." He looked fascinated._

"I'm …" Ben sighed in frustration. "I have a separate communication channel open. I'm going to shut this one off for now and go on stand-by. I'll check in when I'm able. Have the other units continue maneuvers."

"Yes, shut it off! That's what I've been asking the whole time!" Rey said.

"Yes sir."

_Kaydel said, "He must be transmitting. Should we try to block it?"_

"You can't-" Rey shook her head, overwhelmed. "You can't block it. I can't block it. I don't think he can block it." She turned and looked in Finn's direction. "Ben, why are you still there?"

"I don't know how to turn it off," Ben answered. Though he admitted to himself he'd quit trying after the first couple attempts were interrupted before he could make a serious attempt.

_Finn said, "You're looking right at me. Is he here?"_

"No, he's not here. He's in my head. It just," she waved her hand at in him exasperation, "feels like he's over there."

_Poe asked, "Can he hear us?"_

Rey raised her hands. "Wait … just wait … everyone." She took several deep breaths. All were silent. She cleared her throat. "Ben, can you hear anyone who is with me? Or see them?"

"No." His voice calmed rapidly to how it normally was with her. "I only see and hear you. But from your side of the conversation, I can guess at theirs. Are they your friends? Are you safe?" Ben asked.

"Yes, and yes," Rey answered.

_There was a general explosion among those with Rey, all speaking over each other: "He can see us?" "He can hear us?" "Where is he?" "I'll kick his rear end!" "I'll show him!"_

"Stop it! Stop, please," Rey begged. They quieted down. "I was answering him – Ben. No, he can't see you. No, he can't hear you."

Ben smiled sheepishly.

"What are you smiling at?" Rey asked him. She wasn't sure if she'd ever seen him smile. It was cute. It reminded her all over again of all the strange pulls of desire she'd felt toward him. No matter how angry she was, she still knew him in a way she'd never share with any other.

"I think I know what just happened." Ben shrugged. "It's funny."

"It's not funny!" Rey insisted, but she obviously didn't mean it. Ben shrugged again.

_Kaydel asked, "Is he transmitting? Is there anything we should do?"_

_Finn nodded, "Yeah, like can he possess you?"_

_Poe added, "Read your mind?"_

Rey said, "It's through the Force. You can't block it. He can't possess me. He can't read my mind. At least, I don't think he can." She frowned at Ben. "Can you?"

"The first time we were connected, I commanded you to bring Luke to me," Ben answered. "It was as though the Force did not exist. I haven't tried since."

_Poe asked, "What did he say?"_

Rey answered, "He said … it doesn't work that way." It was more her answer than Ben's. He hadn't quite answered the question, but the Force bond was a form of mind-reading all its own. She wasn't sure what they were capable of within the bond, and if Ben was truthful (which she believed he was), he didn't know either.

_Rose asked, "How do you know he's telling the truth?"_

Rey shook her head. "He doesn't lie to me."

_Finn and Kaydel chuckled at how naïve and improbable that was._

"No, I mean, it's not like that," Rey said. She turned and glared at Ben, "Are you just going to sit there and listen to my side of the conversation all night?"

Ben swallowed and sat up from having been doing exactly that, basking in the simple pleasure of hearing her voice and seeing her face when he'd despaired that he might never be so lucky again. "No … I can try to tune it out. I have a report I could get started on." He pulled up the appropriate screen and began to set up his electronic entry on the fighter's performance. Rey couldn't see what he was doing, but she could see that his attention was on something in front of him and downward, instead of on her.

"Good," Rey said. "Do that." To the others, she said, "He said he'd get started on writing a report." Back to Ben, she asked, "What are you doing, anyway? I thought you said something about a calibration run earlier?"

"Yes," Ben answered. "I'm out in a repaired TIE silencer doing maneuvers. But right now I'm in stationary drift … as I'm typing things in."

"Oh," Rey said.

" _Where is he?" Poe asked. "What's he doing?"_

" _Yeah," Rose said, "Is there like a range? Is this a warning that he's close?"_

"No, he's not close," Rey said. "Not necessarily. He said he was in a TIE silencer. Ben, where are you?"

"I'm," he paused, looking up at her with a careful expression, "at the  _Supremacy_."

"He's not anywhere close to us," Rey said.

" _Did he say where he was?" Poe asked._

"Yes," Rey said.

" _Where?" Poe asked._

"I'm not going to tell you," Rey said.

"Thank you for that, Rey. I appreciate it more than you know." Ben paused for a moment to let that sink in – for both of them, too. Rey was protecting him, despite the unwanted bond, despite the refusal of his offer. She was still protecting him and he was deeply grateful for that unexpected blessing. "Can you tell me what are they asking?"

"They're asking where you are," Rey answered.

"You can tell them that if they want to know," Ben answered after a short pause.

"He's at the  _Supremacy_ ," she relayed.

" _Where's that?" Kaydel asked._

_Rose answered, "Probably right where we left it. That thing was messed up. It was the big ship, right?' Finn nodded to her._

_Rose said, "That thing shouldn't even be habitable. What's he doing out there?"_

" _Yeah, what's he up to?" Poe asked as well._

Rey looked exasperated. "He's not doing anything important, okay? I think right now he's writing a report about the TIE fighter calibration run he was doing. Or something like that."

"Yes," Ben said.

" _Can he tell us anything else?" Poe asked. "Like fleet deployments or anything?"_

"I'm not going to ask him that!" Rey said in outrage.

" _Why not?" Poe countered. "That's the supreme leader of the First Order you have on the horn there! Maybe you can pick his brain, read his mind!"_

_Finn nodded. "Yeah, use the Force on him!"_

"No! No! That's not how this works!" Rey told them.

" _That's the same thing Han said," Finn grumbled._

"What are they asking?" Ben asked.

Rey shook her head. "I'm not asking you this. I'm not. But what they're asking is if there is any confidential, secretive, mission-critical inner intelligence you'd like to give to the Resistance for no reason at all." Her tone made it very clear she was not asking him to disclose anything.

"Oh." Ben nodded. He smiled ruefully. "I'm sorry that I put you at odds with your friends." Rey shrugged and sighed like she knew it wasn't his fault. He asked her in a gentle voice, "Is my mother well?"

Rey shut her eyes for a moment, then opened them. "That's hard to answer. She has a lot to grieve."

Ben didn't seem to know how to take that, but he nodded for the sake of politeness. "And you? Your friends sound like they care about you."

"Yes," Rey nodded. "They do." Her voice was sweet. She smiled, soft and warm. The set of her shoulders eased.

"That's good. I'm glad to hear that," Ben answered approvingly. "I'm glad you found the family you needed." There was no way he could keep the sense of defeat and loss out of his voice, despite his best attempt.

"How about you? How are things … going?" Rey asked, avoiding the subject of having refused his offer for them to be together. The rest of the crew had fallen quiet, watching the one side of the conversation they were witness to, where they got to see Rey relax, smile, and look genuinely happy … talking to the leader of the First Order, Kylo Ren, also known as the Jedi Killer.

"Poorly," Ben said. "I came out here to get away from everything, to clear my head a little." He reached up and rubbed at the lightsaber scar. "I keep having a feeling something very bad is going to happen, but it's vague. So much bad has already happened. Thank you for talking to me. I don't want to disrupt things for you. Please, continue. Unless you were discussing something you can't risk me hearing your comments on. I swear I can hear nothing of the others."

"It's not really a secret. We were talking about slavery and what we each knew of it," Rey said.

"I'll get back to work, then." Ben nodded, then looked down at his report. He glanced up to hold her eyes for a moment, but when she looked away, he went back to his screen.

Rey looked around at the silent, waiting faces watching her. "Well, that's really all. He can hear me. He can't hear you. He's going to write his report and go on. I'll let you know when I can't see him anymore. I just," she made a pained smile, thinking about how the Force obviously wanted her to use this time to talk with Ben, but she wouldn't, "maybe I won't have much to say."

_Rose was the one who blurted out what the rest were probably thinking, "You look really happy when you talk to him."_

"He's …" Rey considered what to say. "It's very peaceful in the Force bond. He's very quiet. He listens to me. He can't hurt me. I can't hurt him."

"I beg to differ," Ben said, barely looking up from what he was doing.

"What?" Rey asked, surprised.

"You shot me with a blaster the first time we did this. It hurt." Ben met her eyes. "We can touch. That means we can hurt each other." He glanced off to the side. "I'm sure we can do other things, too."

"What?" Rey's eyes got big. "What are you talking about?"

Ben swallowed and looked around the cockpit uneasily, although Rey couldn't see his line of vision. He didn't take back what he'd obviously implied, though. It gave her a sexual thrill, both that he would imply something so dirty and that it was so inappropriate to even breathe such a suggestion given the non-state of their relationship. Could they really do something like that through the Force bond?

"You're blushing!" she accused him.

_Poe blinked. "Kylo Ren is blushing?"_

_Finn shook his head, "What is he talking about?"_

"I just meant I could," Ben said uncomfortably, walking it back since she looked so outraged, "hold your hand. If you wanted."

Rey grinned widely, then clapped her hand over her mouth. Because she was taken aback by his boldness, and trying not to let her fantasies run away with her. It might not be safe. Not even to fantasize about.

_Finn said, "Now you're blushing, Rey. Man, I wish I could hear the other side of this conversation."_

Rey shook her head, even as she colored more intensely. So much of this was in her head and it wasn't the bond. She worried that he could sense her desire anyway. Maybe he could even hear her thoughts. She put her hand down. "He is saying nothing rude to me. Or crude."

Ben said quietly, "Tell them it was unintentionally easy to misconstrue."

That sounded good. Rey parroted, "It was unintentionally easy to misconstrue." Her voice came out stilted.

_Poe tilted his head. "He just told you say that, didn't he? That sounds like something he'd say, not you."_

Rey sighed. "He can hear my side of the conversation."

_Poe nodded. "He did. Called it."_

"It doesn't matter," Rey said. "He's doing his report and he's not going to do anything distracting while we talk."

_Finn leaned back against the chair. "You expect us to go on talking like you don't have the leader of the First Order on hold?"_

"He only hears me," Rey said. "I don't think I'm saying anything … secret." She determinedly changed the subject. "They didn't even have slavery as such on Jakku, but what they had was wage slavery. It's basically the same thing. It's not like anything was going to get better and it wasn't fair at all. Unkar would change your salary if you started getting ahead and that was so frustrating!"

_Kaydel shrugged. "I guess we are just going to go on, then." She looked around at the others, then said, "I've seen some of the well-off worlds do the same thing. They'll have a designated underclass who aren't allowed to better themselves. They have systems and preferences set up to block them access to resources, like public services, health needs, education, entertainment, or travel."_

After several minutes of silence as Rey listened to the others, Ben said in a low voice, "Rey, you don't have to answer me unless you have questions, but I'm going to open the comm channel to the  _Supremacy_  and get back to the calibration checklist. You'll hear my side of the chatter. If you object or it's too distracting, let me know and I'll go idle again."

"No, that's fine," she said quietly.

_Poe asked, "What's up?"_

"He's going back to the calibration run," Rey said.

" _You mean he's piloting that TIE silencer?" Poe asked._

"Yes," Rey answered.

" _Can you make him crash it?" Poe asked._

"No!" Rey said, offended at the suggestion. Being angry at Ben did not mean she wanted him dead. Far from it.

Ben looked up at her tone, trying to meet her eyes, but she wasn't looking his way. He pursed his lips and went back to putting the little ship through its paces. It required a lot of concentration, which was why he'd parked when he'd realized the bond had opened and he couldn't shut it.

" _You like him," Poe said, tilting his head and then smiling ruefully, shaking it._

"No, I-!" Rey shook her head. "That's not a fair question. You heard me at the start telling him this was a bad time and I didn't want to talk with him."

" _But if we hadn't been here," Poe countered, "it would have been an okay time."_

"What are you implying? What?" Rey said testily, because who she talked to and didn't talk to was her business, not theirs. Even if that someone was Ben Solo. Maybe especially.

_Rose said dryly, "I don't think he's implying anything, Rey, except that you like the guy. We all saw that."_

"I don't-" Rey sighed.

_Finn said levelly, "You're not doing a good job of denying it."_

"I … I can't deny it," she floundered. "We have a bond. We share something. I don't understand it entirely yet. But yes, I like him. I feel like I know him and he knows me. There is light in him. There is good in him. I know that. I feel it. I don't claim to understand why … he's done the things he's done. But I'm willing to listen."

Rey took a deep breath and looked over in Ben's direction to see his reaction to what she'd said, but there was no one there. The bond had ended without her realizing it.


	3. Rey Intermission

_Day 1_

"The bond just ended." Rey stared in Finn's direction, the area where she'd previously been able to mentally sense Ben's presence. But there was nothing there now. Her brows drew together in concern.

"What does that mean?" Finn asked.

"I don't know," she said distractedly, doing the mental equivalent of checking and re-checking the line to see if Ben was still out there. There was nothing. "I'd know if he were hurt."

"You sure?" Finn asked.

"I'm sure," she said.

"He wouldn't have cut out while you were saying that if he had any control over it," Poe said. "I mean, if I know anything about guys who are trading blushes at you and flirting. That's not when they hang up."

"He wasn't-!" Rey made an exasperated noise and got to her feet, pacing around the small compartment. "Luke Skywalker tried to talk me out of this and he failed. You are not going to succeed."

"Not trying," Poe said. "Not even sure what we're talking you out of."

"A relationship with him. And yeah, we are," Finn countered. "Dump him. Hard. Be cruel about it. He deserves it."

Rey stared at him, blinking.

Rose asked, "Why is the guy in charge of the First Order contacting you through the Force?"

Rey turned away from Finn, shaking her head, to address Rose. "He's not contacting me on purpose. The Force keeps joining our minds or something. Snoke claimed he did it to start with, but he's dead and it's still happening so I don't know. Did he just mean he did it the first time? Was there already a bond there? Because something happened on Takodana. And …" She shook her head and chewed her lip. "I don't know. I just know Ben Solo is not the problem."

"How do you know that?" Poe asked.

"Because he's not." She was absolutely certain of that and it carried through to her voice. She had her reasons – what she'd seen in the vision of him turning, the feeling of hope and light glimmering around the edges of him in the Force, what he'd done for her against Snoke, the way they'd fought together against Snoke's guards … and the overwhelming impression that he loved her that she received every time she saw him. She didn't know what to do with such a feeling, though. It thrilled her, but her life on Jakku had not exactly set her up to know how to handle dark, dashing, powerful men offering to rule the galaxy with her.

"Are you sure you're not in any danger from this?" Finn asked.

Rey opened her mouth to answer, but the concern on Finn's face stopped the lie she'd been about to give. "I don't know," she said instead. Because really, she didn't.

"Why don't we ask Leia and Chewbacca about it?" Kaydel said, finally speaking up. "It's her son. He's Chewbacca's … there's a Wookiee word for it. Godson, I guess. Bond mate's child maybe. But if you don't know what can happen through this Force bond, then you're trusting this guy. Is he trustworthy?"

"No," Finn said like this was obvious. "I saw him order the death of an entire village of unarmed civilians. That was the point when I defected. I couldn't be part of it. That's what he ordered. I saw it with my own eyes."

Poe looked from Finn to Rey. "Yeah, I was there for that."

"There was screaming … and dying," Finn said. "I saw him kill his father in cold blood. You saw it, too, Rey. And that's aside from him being called the Jedi Killer, though I'm not real clear on how he got that name. Never have been. I mean, there weren't any Jedi for him to kill."

"There used to be Jedi," Poe said.

"Not since, like, before the empire?" Finn said with a questioning tone. "I don't know; I grew up on First Order propaganda and a lot of it was just wrong. The Jedi caused the fall of the Republic, so the clone army killed most of them. That means they must have been wiped out fifty years ago, but Kylo Ren can't be much over half that."

"Uh, yeah, that part's wrong," Poe said. "I'm pretty sure there've been some Jedi since then. Maybe, like, when I was a kid?"

"Maybe that's where they went?" Rose said. "He tracked them down and killed them?"

Rey rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Luke Skywalker was a Jedi. He founded an academy to pass on his skills. He had students. Ben Solo … was one of them." She swallowed and stopped, not sure what to say or if she wanted to continue.

"Okay, then he didn't need to track them down. He was right there," Rose said.

"He killed them all?" Finn asked. "Except for Luke. Obviously. Wait, why didn't Luke kill him? Back then? Why'd he wait until the Battle of Crait to show up and do something?"

Rey grimaced. "Do you want to believe the Legend of Luke Skywalker and the Jedi Killer, or do you want to know the truth?"

They were silent for a long moment until Poe broke the quiet with, "I want to know the truth."

"There's no going back after you know," Rey warned them. Poe nodded. Finn shook his head because he already didn't believe anything that excused Kylo Ren from being a monster. Rose was attentive. Kaydel acted less interested, like she already knew. She was, after all, one of Leia's aides and long-term officers.

"Ben was one of Luke's students. The influence of the dark side was growing in him. Luke went to confront him about it in the middle of the night, but he didn't talk to him. He just … used the Force somehow to read his heart. He saw that the dark side was powerful within Ben and further along than he'd thought. For a moment, he thought Ben … I don't know exactly what he thought, but he ignited his lightsaber with the intention of killing Ben Solo in his sleep."

Poe, Finn, and Rose all looked surprised. Kaydel was more guarded, but still listening closely.

"Ben woke up to see Luke ready to strike. He rolled off the bed and took up his own lightsaber. Their blades struck. That was true in both Luke's and Ben's telling of the story, which tells me Luke didn't immediately turn his lightsaber off. He was still threatening or attacking when Ben got to his feet. Ben collapsed the hut on top of Luke. And he fled."

She swallowed. "I don't have an explanation for why he killed some of the students and not others, or how they were involved, who burned the temple and why – any of that. But it was Luke himself who told me that he failed Ben Solo. I will not."

"He tried to murder us in the forest on Starkiller Base," Finn said.

"If he had wanted to kill me in that lightsaber battle, he would have," Rey said. "He didn't fight me the way he fought you. I was swinging wildly and all he would do was bat my blade aside and block it. He asked me to be his student!"

"What?" Finn looked perplexed.

"You were unconscious." She sighed. "I do not need to explain myself to anyone."

"You're right," Poe said quietly. "This isn't an explanation. Or it shouldn't be. You're telling us what happened. That's it. We need to know, that's all."

"Thank you," Rey said pointedly to him. "I feel like my motives are being questioned here."

"We saw him kill Han Solo," Finn said, still offended that she'd be on good terms with this guy. "You can't argue that away."

"I'm not! Do you see me on the First Order flagship? Was I not with you at the Battle of Crait? Am I not here at this very moment?" Anger flared with every demanding question as she turned on Finn for questioning her loyalties and choices. Power rose and flowed around her with her temper. Teeth bared, she felt it go through her, saw him recoil, and it felt so, so good. This was the dark side, then. She knew it, even as it happened, but she couldn't put it aside as easily as she'd summoned it.

Finn's eyes were huge. Rose was fumbling for a weapon but her hands kept coming up empty because that was the will of the Force as Rey wielded it. Kaydel just sat blinking.

Poe said, "Hey, Rey? We're all friends here. It's okay." His voice was as even as ever, with the easy calm of someone who'd earned the title of 'best pilot of the Resistance' by facing down death time after time, keeping his cool under the worst pressure.

The door flashed open to reveal Leia Organa, with a concerned look on her tired face. "What's going on in here?"

Rey snarled at her and moved towards the only way out – the doorway Leia was standing in. "I must leave," Rey said, averting her eyes. For all she knew, they were glinting yellow. She didn't know what the dark side would do to a person, but she'd heard rumors. Ben's eyes weren't yellow and nor were Snoke's, so that was something.

"No," Leia said firmly, shifting to be directly in Rey's path. "We're not losing you. You're staying."

"I'm not- You're not-" Rey tried stepping to one side and then the other, but Leia knew where she was going before she lifted her feet. Rey only tried twice, then stopped. Leia was using some trick of the Force. She could feel it. Rey breathed hard, eyes downcast. She didn't want to fight, especially with Leia. She just wanted this clammy, numbing feeling she'd had in the cave to go away. She wished Ben was here. He'd have understood, as he had the last time.

Rey felt the dark power cascade off of her like water as Leia put a calming hand on her shoulder. Then it was gone. Rey shivered in its absence. She still felt … different. It was tempting to think of it as 'contaminated', but it was something that had come from within her. She was no more contaminated by it than she would be by her own blood.

Poe was standing behind her, having come up as she was trying to get around Leia. "You got this?"

Leia nodded. "Are you okay?" she said to Rey. Rey nodded, still not willing to look up. They stood silently for a moment, until Leia hugged her and that made everything finally right for her.

"I'm sorry," Rey said. "I lost control."

"Did you?" Leia said, releasing her. "I didn't notice that. You looked like you were in complete control."

"It was the dark side."

"Yeah? Did it come up and take you by surprise?"

Leia's sarcasm got Rey's attention. "What? No." Rey looked back at Finn, Rose, and Kaydel, who were still seated, still looking shocked by what had happened. "I was angry … at my friends."

Leia nodded slowly. "When you're angry at strangers, the light side might help you, but when you're angry at yourself or the ones you love, that's when the dark side will come to you." Rey turned back to her, giving Leia a searching look. Leia said, "You think I didn't look into it after losing my son so many years ago?" She moved on into the room. "There are precious few writings on the Sith or the dark side, but what could be found, I read." She took the seat Poe had previously occupied. He had moved to stand against the wall where he had the entire room in his view.

"Pain, hurt, fear, avoidance, walling things off, compartmentalization, stealth, deception, false identities – all traits of the dark side. All things I got more familiar with after my son turned into Kylo Ren. It's not going to happen to you, too."

Rey swallowed and looked out the door. It was open. She could leave. But she turned back to the group. "Leia … General Organa-"

"Just Leia."

"Well, this is a Resistance matter," Rey said. "I'm in contact with Kylo Ren through the Force. While I was on Ach-To, and Crait, and here. I've felt his presence, seen his face, and heard his voice. He senses me the same. We've spoken. I'm …" she looked apologetically at Finn, "I'm not his enemy. I'm not going to be. If that's a requirement of being in the Resistance, then I'll leave."

"Uh-huh," Leia said. "Well, don't pack your bags yet, because that's not one of the requirements. We're not in the business of hating people and destroying them." She was looking at Finn as well.

"Why are you looking at me?" Finn said. He gestured at Rey. "I know why  _she's_  looking at me."

"Because you came from the First Order," Leia said. "You're not going to shake off a lifetime of conditioning right away. I know that. Things probably seem pretty black and white to you. They're not." She looked back to Rey. "You want to be my son's defender? He needs one. Go right ahead. But be careful. You can't tell if he's done lashing out that the ones close to him. He may never be."

"He speaks to me kindly through the bond," Rey said quietly. "It's not always what I want to hear, but what he says does not come from a place of darkness or hate. He's not Kylo Ren to me. He's Ben Solo."

Leia studied her. "It can be tough to make that determination all by yourself. Make sure you have someone with you when he's near, when you feel his presence. Never underestimate the power of having someone there for you."

"Yeah," Finn said haltingly, "I guess, that's all we're really asking for."

"We don't get to ask," Rose said.

"What?" Finn looked to her.

"That's what she was angry at you for," Rose said, surprising Rey by putting words to something Rey hadn't been able to. "You don't get to ask her to change her life or who she's with because of how you feel about it. Just … either be her friend or don't."

"Leia said-" Finn looked confused.

"Leia's giving advice," Rose said. "You were telling Rey that what she was doing was wrong. There's a difference."

Finn blinked, clearly not getting it. "Okay," he agreed anyway.

Leia said, "She doesn't have to do what I tell her to do. That's okay. Unless it's a military thing, a Resistance matter, like she said. In that case, maybe I need to know about an information leak. So she told me, because she knows the difference. But then it gets muddy when we talk about my son and who she trusts. Like I said, it's not black and white."

"Finn," Rey said, "you are my friend. You are the one who pulled me off of Jakku when it was long past time for me to leave. You showed me bravery. You came back for me. You showed me loyalty. You fought for me. You showed me sacrifice. You want what's best for me. What's best for me is to let me figure that out on my own."

"Okay," Finn said again, but this time it seemed more heartfelt.

"You turned," Rose told him. "Why can't this other guy?"

Finn chuckled, turning to Rose. "Have you seen that guy? Maybe at the distance he was at it wasn't clear, but he is scary big and that sword is noisy! It's rattling all the time, hissing, spitting maybe …"

Rey nodded to everyone and stepped out before Finn really got going on the moral failings of Kylo Ren. She wanted the quiet of the night and to look up at the twinkling stars. She wanted to think about how that dark power had felt inside of her and remember what Leia had said about the dark side coming from what amounted to self-loathing or betrayal. There was more to that, she was sure. After dealing with Luke, Rey didn't take anyone for an expert on this, not even Leia. The insight was valuable, though.

She looked up at the sky and sent a prayer up to Ben, hoping he would know that she was fighting for him.


	4. New Day

_Day 2_

As the first rays of the orange sun peaked over the horizon, Rey's sense of the Force increased and everything else fell away. It was gorgeous and exactly what she'd come out to the cliff for – to see the start of a new day cycle, to feel the interconnectedness of the world, to see darkness chased away and banished. Her eyes watered and her chest felt tight. It was as though, even across the stars, she could feel Ben with her.

Rey pursed her lips and looked down at the steaming oatmeal she'd brought out with her. She took a bite, then caught sight of something out of the corner of her eye. It looked like a cluster of rocks that hadn't been there before. At the end of it was black hair. She stared for a moment. In the increasing light, she could make out Ben Solo, asleep, covered in a slate-grey blanket she'd mistaken for stone. He didn't seem awake.

Her brows rose. So, that was why it felt like Ben was with her. Also, he didn't have to be aware to be part of the bond. She thought about waking him, but decided against it given that he'd had at least one traumatic waking in his past. She swung her legs back and forth where they dangled over the edge and kept eating, watching as the sun rose bit by bit. When it was nearly above the horizon, but not quite, Ben stirred. She looked over at him and smiled. He blinked, adorably sleepy but apparently not upset to see her.

As he sat up, she wondered what he wore to bed with a less-than-pure interest in the subject. His shoulders were bare for a moment with mostly-healed scars showing on both sides – a slash from Finn, a stab from herself. He clutched the blanket to himself and shifted it to cover himself. His legs, too, were bare where she could see them from the knees down. There was another lightsaber scar across the side of one calf. She recalled giving that one to him, as well as the one that extended across his face, neck, and collarbone. She didn't have a mark from him. He was sitting now. From her point of view, he looked like he'd joined her on the cliff, facing the sunrise.

"Good morning," she said to him. He nodded, looking at her. He studied her like he was memorizing her face, then finally looked off in the direction of the sun. "Can you see it?" she asked.

"I only see darkness ahead of me." He shook his head and looked back to her. "But I see the light on your skin. It's golden. Is it the sunrise, where you are?"

She smiled a little and nodded, taking a bite of oatmeal. His eyes tracked the motion as though he'd only now noticed she had a bowl with her. "It's gorgeous," she told him. "I wish you could see it." She hadn't missed the meaning of what he'd said. It gnawed at her heart.

"So are you," he said softly. She smiled again, coloring slightly. There, again, was that constant sense of love from him. He snuggled deeper into his blanket, pulling it tighter around himself. "It's cold where I am. Is it cold where you are?"

"It's a little crisp, but not really."

He nodded and seemed lost in thought. Rey, too, had things to think about between them as she went on eating. They said nothing while she finished, just sharing each other's company. When she was done, she set the bowl aside and scooted a few inches closer to him. He looked so bereft, and yet he did not seem to blame her. Rey extended her arm behind him. It was too short to comfortably settle over his broad shoulders, so she put it diagonally across his back, her hand near his far hip.

He breathed deeper and gave her a tender look. She smiled at him, half warm, half sad. "I'm sorry things aren't good right now."

"This is very good. I like it," he protested.

"That's not what I mean. Did you hear what I said last night? At the end?"

He smiled down at her. She liked seeing that smile. He said, "That you liked me? Yes. Then I crashed the TIE silencer."

"Oh no! Are you okay?"

He nodded. "No one was badly hurt. A few bruises, a sprained ankle – not mine. I was already in the hangar bay when it happened. A few stormtroopers had to run for cover. It was worth it for what I heard you say." He exhaled and looked out at the darkness, then back to her. "Rey, if there's anything I can do for you, please let me know."

She looked at him steadily and said, "You seem to want to say other things. I can sense it."

"They are all … unfair to you." He looked away.

So maybe he wanted to blame her after all. She decided not to press. "Last night … we talked about you," she said. He looked back to her. "After the Force bond was over. Your mother joined us. She said to me, 'Never underestimate the effect of having someone on your side.' I want you to know, Ben, that I'm on your side."

"She said that?" His expression turned vulnerable.

"Yes, but…" Rey winced. "It was about her advising I always have someone with me when we were talking, just to be safe. They're … paranoid." She wondered if she should say more of Leia's condition, but decided against it.

He looked around, even though it was useless (or at least, Rey supposed it was – he'd noticed Luke through the bond before … maybe it only applied to Force users?) "Is anyone here now?" Ben asked.

"No." She smiled. "I understand what she's saying, but I don't think I'm in danger from you."

"You should listen to your friends. Not because I'm a danger to you – I'm not; I hope I never hurt you – but because they care for you. If you're not here with me, then at least be with your friends. I don't want you to be lonely ever again."

"I'm … not lonely," she said, but it felt like a lie. How could she be when surrounded by people who obviously cared about her? Even if they were … busy … and getting on with their own lives. Rey met his eyes. "I'm taking care of myself and that includes listening to … everyone. I don't want you to feel there's nothing but darkness ahead of you. That's what's important. Okay?"

"Okay." He nodded slowly.

She sighed and leaned in to him. The sensation of him was distant, a faint buzz against her skin – along her arm behind his back, along her cheek as she tilted her head to rest it on his shoulder. She knew he could feel her, though whether she was actually getting any physical support from him (or him from her), she doubted.

Ben's awareness of her slowly faded. When she was gone entirely, he laid back down on his mattress and pulled the blanket around him. It still seemed very cold, but even basic life support functions on the  _Supremacy_ remained unreliable. So far, an evacuation had not been required. He dreamed of the day when he and Rey could share a sunrise together, in the flesh. But at least for now, he had this.


	5. Planets are Weird

_Day 2_

Rey saw Finn stomping on the ground as she returned from the cliff. "What are you doing?"

"Ah, just … nothing." He looked embarrassed to have been caught doing that. "What about you?"

"I was over at the cliffs, watching the sunrise."

"Oh yeah, cool. That happens." He looked off at the horizon as though he needed to confirm that the orb had risen. The sun was a few hands-widths above it.

Rey laughed lightly. "Yeah, every day. Why? Did you need to check?"

Finn gave her an amused smile and shook his head. "I know it happens, right. I mean, orbital rotation, stars, atmosphere, sure. Sunrise, sunset. Got it. But it's just weird."

She took a seat on a crate of supplies they'd had delivered the day before, but hadn't gotten around to opening and unloading into the Falcon. "Weird, huh?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "It's weird." He stomped on the ground a few more times. "Like this – ground-pounding. I grew up on spaceships and inside military bases on the training worlds. I figure I was born on some other planet, where people actually, like, live, but I don't remember it. So this whole 'living on a planet', ground-pounding thing kind of freaks me out. This doesn't feel like home the way the inside of a ship or a base does."

"You didn't 'live' on a planet?" she asked.

He shrugged. "We were on one for a while, but we'd go out and do exercises or training missions, then go back to a base that might as well have been a ship. It was self-contained. Sterile. Clean. Had its own day cycles and none of this 'weather' stuff. We were always back and forth into space. You don't live outside like this unless you're an animal or a primitive." He waved around in a general fashion. Rey didn't understand the difference. Nor did she much appreciate the insult about people who lived planetside their whole lives.

Finn didn't act like he intended to be offensive. He tried to explain. He looked straight up and the endless, mauve-tinted sky. "Like that, right there!" he said, warming up to the subject. "Look at that."

Rey obediently squinted at the firmament.

He went on. "It's endless, technically. That's space. Just with a bunch of reflected sunlight coloring it. There's so much air up there that you can't even see the stars!" He pointed at the sun. "Except for that one." He leaned towards Rey, gesturing widely with his arms, as though telling a funny or scary story.

"It's strange, Rey! There's no ceiling. It's just … open. No containment field. And this," he kicked the ground. "It's dirt! The whole floor is dirt. It's just dirt for as far as you can see, unless you run into rocks, which is stupid. Why would there be dirt and rocks everywhere? I'm used to shiny floors, smooth, waterproof, clean!"

"That's why you were stomping?"

"Yeah! It doesn't sound right under my feet. It's squishy sometimes. Water falls out of the air! Or there's too much IN the air, like humidity. And it gets hot. Or cold. Or windy. That's not how it is in a ship unless the life support system is wonky. And if that's going on, you're in big trouble. It even smells funny out here." He was grinning and held his nose in an exaggerated fashion.

Rey giggled. She couldn't tell how much was Finn was magnifying things to be funny and how much he actually believed. But he was trying to make her laugh, so she did. Rose came in and joined her on the crate, watching the comedy show Finn was putting on.

He continued, "There are all of these … things out here, too. Little things, big dangerous things, fast things, slow ones." He made creepy-crawly shapes with his hands. "They're all stupid. They don't have a language. Some of them want to eat you or sit on you or steal your helmet! That happened to me once on a mission." Finn shook his head. "All these animals and bugs and plants and creatures, all over the place! You don't have that on a ship or a base! I'm not used to that. I don't think I want to be used to that.

"Sometimes there's sand and it gets in my boots. Or there's mud and  _it_  gets in my boots. Or water, and it gets everywhere! Oh man, have I mentioned the water?" Finn leaned in, making panicked motions that made both Rey and Rose laugh. "You go somewhere and the land might just END. There will be all this water and you can't keep going. You can't get across it. You have to get a vehicle. Or grow flippers. Which would not work later when you go back to the ship, trust me."

He made an exaggerated shrug. "Some people never go to space at all. They just live here. Where it's dirty and smelly and windy and weird! So weird! Why would anyone do that? Tell me, Rey! You grew up on a planet. Do you still want to go back to Jakku?"

She smiled and shook her head slowly.

"Yeah! Yeah!" Finn raised his hands and cheered to his imaginary (larger) crowd. But Leia had shown up at the top of the ramp to the Falcon and was listening, so he had at least three following along. "No more Jakku! Yes! I have a convert!"

Rose asked, "What's wrong with Jakku?"

"Oh wow." Finn shook his head. "Don't even get me started. Just drop me off on a nice, stable starship with a duty roster and I'm good. Things to do, quarters to live in, food to eat. Oh," his face lit up again. "I didn't mention the food! People on planets eat things! They eat animals. They eat plants. They cut them up, tear them apart, roast them in fire, and then chew them up! Who does that?"

"What do you eat if you live on a star destroyer?" Rose asked, laughing at how odd his outrage sounded.

Finn wrinkled his nose and stood up tall, doing his best snooty impression of General Hux, although none of his listeners had the reference. "We eat the finest nutritive foodstuffs a synthesizer could make. A vast improvement over the liquid diets of Imperial days! Once again, the First Order has improved upon the past! Enjoy your meal, full of texture and flavor, as you think about how privileged you are to serve in the First Order!" He laughed, himself, at how ridiculous the general's announcements usually ended up sounding. Rose and Rey joined in.

He shook his head, ending the send-up of an upper-rank twit. "Nah, but seriously, I think the officers could have planet food if they wanted it, but even most of them wouldn't eat it. I mean, it's unsanitary." He chuckled. "Who would?"

"Unsanitary?" Rey asked. She wasn't sure if she should be offended, but she felt that way regardless.

Finn shrugged and gestured around, no longer joking. "Well … yeah. It's gross. Unregulated. This is all filthy. That's my point." He didn't seem to understand the problem.

Rose snorted and hopped off the crate, going over to him and slipping her arm around his waist. "I'll show you filthy. You don't know the half of it."

"Oh really?" He laughed. "I think you're just going to have me help you flush out hydraulic fluid on those old x-wings Yimette got out of storage yesterday."

"Yep!" Rose said cheerfully, steering him off in the direction of the warehouse.

Finn looked over his shoulder to Rey, shouting, "Hey, don't forget I want to go over the Falcon schematics with you later, okay?"

She nodded and waved him good-bye. He turned away, walking off arm-in-arm with Rose. They looked very happy together. Rey's good-natured smile faded to wistful.

"I saw he hit some sour notes with you there at the end." Leia walked slowly down the ramp and took Rose's spot on the crate. "He was a stormtrooper all his life. It's a different culture. He means well, but he still has some adjusting to do."

"He does," Rey said. "Mean well, that is. It's just that Jakku was the only home I knew." She looked off in the direction of the cliffs, thinking about how peaceful it had felt to sit with Ben. "It's hard to hear it called 'filthy' and 'unsanitary'. It wasn't a nice place, but …" She looked back to Leia and changed the subject. "I'm glad to see you up."

"It was nice to hear the sound of laughter." Leia smiled softly, but there was still a distant, strained air to her. The day before, she'd hardly stirred, seeming lost in contemplation most of the day. She'd skimmed through the Jedi texts Rey had shown her, but that was all.

"Are you okay?" Rey asked. "The Force seems … wrong somehow." Even Ben had commented on it the day before. Rey definitely felt it, but she didn't know what it meant.

Leia shrugged slowly and with her typical understatement, blew it off. "Oh, I cheated death. It's nothing to be concerned about. It will pass. All things do. How are you doing, with the Force? Last night was quite a stir."

Rey rolled her eyes. "I don't know. I need a teacher. Ben offered." She looked back to the east.

Leia followed her eyes. "What happened over there, where you keep looking with that yearning expression on your face?"

Rey sighed and told her the truth. "I watched the sunrise with Ben. He's … sad."

"Rey, we don't know what can be done through a Force bond. Please be careful. We care about you."

"He's not a danger to me," Rey insisted. "I have hurt him, scorned him, and tried to kill him, and he still listens to me. I'm the only connection he has to the light and he's not letting go of that. I don't want him to let go. He keeps reaching out to me. I keep wanting to reach back. I'm just not sure how."

Leia sighed, then said, "You know, Luke was mostly self-taught in the ways of the Force. You don't need Ben to show you things. You should take a look at those books and start treating them like lesson plans. They're a good outline, but nothing replaces actually living in the world. Start with them, and you'll find your way."

"That sounds like a good plan," Rey agreed, lifting her head approvingly. It aligned well with her own feelings that no one person (or probably even a combination of them) could tell her how she should proceed. "So what are you going to do today? What 'living in the world' are you going to do?"

"Hmm," Leia considered. "I think my time would be best spent on communications for the Resistance. I'm not up to my full energy, Rey, and I don't think I ever will be. The last two weeks have taken it all out of me. So many deaths. Send Kaydel Ko to me and I'll sort out what needs to be said and to whom. Hopefully, I'll feel well enough to do the saying, but if not, it will at least be noted down."

Rey gave her a long, thoughtful look. Something still wasn't right, but she'd asked twice now and Leia wasn't telling. Or maybe she was, and all the deaths of loved ones, the strain of having your son lead repeated assaults against you, the dwindling forces of the Resistance, and the ongoing tepid response and hesitation from Resistance allies – it was depressing. The whole lot of it. Rey didn't think it was her place to insist Leia move on like nothing had happened when clearly, things  _had_  happened.

"Okay," Rey said finally. "I'll go find Kaydel for you and then get started on the first book."


	6. Fusion Power

_Day 2_

"Oh!" Rey gasped when the Force bond opened. Everything was dark except for streaks of light that swirled around her and whipped past. And Ben. She could see Ben, his pale face shining in the darkness. The scar looked like a black line across his features. He was sitting on the floor, cross legged, concentrating.

" _You alright?" Finn asked from where they'd been going over schematics._

"Yes. It's Ben," she answered.

Ben's eyes opened. He was breathing hard. "Rey?"

"Yes." She held up a hand towards Finn, who was leaning towards her, looking concerned. Finn reached out and tried to take it. "No, it's okay." She waved Finn off. He wasn't the one she wanted to take her hand. To Ben she said, "Why does it look like this? What's going on?"

"I was," Ben looked around uneasily as though he, too, was surprised by the scenery, "in the middle of something."

"What?"

"Killing a man."

"What?" her brows drew together in alarm. "You're sitting on the floor," she pointed out. It seemed like an odd posture for one supposedly in the middle of murder.

"I was using the Force." He was still looking around at the strange light show. He wasn't breathing as hard now.

"You were killing a man with the Force?" she asked to be sure she understood.

" _Wait," Finn said, "he's killing another Force-user, or he's killing them by using the Force?" As though to himself, Finn muttered, "I suppose it doesn't matter either way."_

"He's a very long way away," Ben explained. "He's the captain of a star destroyer. He refused to acknowledge orders from myself or General Hux. Then he mutinied and jumped his ship into hyperspace." In a softer voice, he said, "I can't allow treason to go unpunished. Not now."

Rey ignored Finn's comment. What Ben was suggesting was impossible. "You can kill someone at that distance?" Ben nodded. She said, "He should be court martialed or something. There's a process … isn't there? Laws, rules?"

"Yes, but this is very clear-cut. If I do nothing, he will escape into the Unknown Regions where I," he sighed, "currently have riots and insurrections beginning. They do not need an additional star destroyer joining their side, giving them a better option of fighting if I choose to bring the fleet against them. My forces need to be united under me, giving the planetary governors no choice but to surrender without a fight. Otherwise, there will be civil war and many people will die other than this one ship captain."

"Riots?"

" _Riots," Finn said quietly. "He's killing a guy in a riot? At a distance? Like a sniper, must be."_

"Yes," Ben said. "Starkiller Base was destroyed. Snoke was assassinated. Luke Skywalker has re-emerged. We've suffered enormous losses in the field. And above it all, most in the First Order are aware that many of our public communications are propaganda. Lies. So no matter how much the High Command emphasizes that the Resistance is defeated and Luke Skywalker is dead, it's not going to be believed until I can make a show of force to prove it. And right now," he tilted his head, "my flagship is in pieces and my ship captains are mutinying. Or at least this one is. I need to make an example before it spreads."

Rey was quiet as everything sunk in. She wondered how he knew Luke was dead, but clearly he knew. She remembered him saying during the sunrise that it was cold where he was and Finn saying the only way it got cold on a spaceship was if they were having really bad problems. Quietly, she said, "Would it be any different if I … had stayed with you?"

He swallowed. "Like I said this morning, that would be unfair to you. You made your decision and that is in the past. I don't know how things would have been had you decided otherwise." He looked down. His lips tightened like he wanted to snarl, but didn't. "We both saw a future … that isn't going to happen."

Rey wiped her eyes, because the sadness in his last statement struck her to the core.

" _Are you okay?" Finn asked softly, his hand on her forearm._

"Yes, I'm fine." Rey shook her head. "Or no, I'm not fine, but it's not because of him. Or anything he's doing."

Ben looked at her even more sadly. His voice was as husky and deep as she'd ever heard it. "I would hunt you to the ends of the galaxy if that would bring us together." He gazed at her adoringly. She breathed faster. He said, "It might bring me to you." Ben shook his head and his voice faltered, "But I fear it would never bring you to me."

" _You're crying," Finn said._

"I know." Rey scrubbed at her eyes harder. She took a few deep breaths and felt how much the Force was roiling between them. Her heart felt like it was being torn from her. Ben was watching her silently, obviously willing to give himself over to the dark side if that would accomplish his goals. Which was exactly why she'd refused him. She said, "We can't change the past. But the future hasn't happened yet. This man, the one you're going to kill? Are there other things you can do?"

Ben frowned. "I could send other ships after him. They might mutiny as well once they were outside my range. Or they would engage him in battle, and I would have damaged several ships and killed many. Possibly he would escape anyway. He might surrender, but I doubt it. He was determined enough to mutiny in the first place. I could send assassins after him. I dispatched the Knights of Ren yesterday to deal with the most manageable of the insurrections. I could redirect them to his ship, but they would have to infiltrate it successfully. I could do nothing. I've already said what that causes." He shook his head. "I don't see a better option."

"Can you make him go to sleep, like you did with me in the forest?"

He blinked at her. "I … could. He would wake up later. Such a lapse might only last a few hours, as it did with you. I don't see how that would help."

"Can you make him go to sleep and then tell his second-in-command that if he doesn't bring the ship back immediately, you'll kill him – the second-in-command. And you will have proven to him that you can do it because his captain will be unconscious."

Ben thought on that. "Yes. That would require much less strain on my part than ending his life, assuming the second-in-command accepts. If not, I will have to exert myself again. Over this distance, it is not easy, no matter what I'm trying to do. I might not be able to do it. Or rather, I might not survive it. You do realize, this doesn't save his life? He'll be executed for treason."

"Don't use the Force for this, Ben," she begged him. "Don't use the dark side to take someone's life out of convenience. I care about you; not him. Don't use the Force to kill."

"This is more than convenience," Ben argued.

_Finn asked, "Can you tell me what's going on?"_

Rey looked at Finn for a long moment, then turned her attention inward, to Ben. "Can I tell anyone else what you've told me?"

"It would be a disaster for me if you did," he said quietly. "If it were widely known among the New Republic that there was this level of dissent in my ranks, they would make offers to my captains and the mutiny would spread. If you do not want me drenching myself in the dark side, then don't put me in that position." He raised his brows and looked at her intently. "Aside from my mother, the First Order is the only family I have now. Their lives matter to me. I will use every weapon at my disposal to keep them safe, just as you would to defend those you saw as yours."

The passion with which he felt this came through the bond clearly, even though it surprised Rey. "I didn't know you felt that way. I thought it was just about the power."

"Do you still keep company with that traitor stormtrooper, FN-2187?"

"Finn?"

" _Yeah?" said Finn, but he could see she wasn't looking at or speaking to him._

"Yes," Ben said. "Finn," he pronounced with care. She nodded. "You like him," he said as a challenge. She didn't deny it. Finn was her friend, despite their recent arguments. "A month ago, he was not a traitor. A month ago, he was part of the First Order. A month ago … you might have still liked him. You say you see the light in me. You know for a fact that not all within the First Order are lost to darkness, because Finn was not lost to it."

A slow smile lit Rey's face as she understood. It was so similar to what Rose had said – 'if you can turn, then why can't he?', but Ben was putting it even more broadly – 'if Finn is worthwhile, then why not all the First Order?' "If that is so," she said slowly, "then … let's do this together. You and I."

Ben's brows pulled together. "Do …?"

_Finn asked, "What are you guys doing again?" Nervously, he asked, "He's not, uh, trying to kill me at a distance using the Force, is he? I know they're kind of mad at me. I know you're kind of mad at me …"_

Rey explained to both, "We'll put the captain to sleep. You can send a message to his subordinate. Maybe it will work."

" _Okay," Finn said. "Probably not me. Good."_

"Together?" Ben tilted his head slightly. "If you help, if we can combine our powers, and we might be able to reach into the mind of the captain himself and sway him directly."

"What?" Rey said. "Why didn't you say we could do that before?"

"I didn't know you were willing to help," Ben said. "I was trying to convince you not to stop me."

Rey's brows shot up as she realized how she and Ben were seeing the same situation in such different ways. "I am stopping you! Yes! Yes! This will work!" She stood briefly in her excitement and relief. "We'll make it work. Together." She sat back down. "Now, how do we make it work?"

"I … have done something similar with Snoke, and with the knights. Sit across from me."

Rey found a comfortable spot on the floor and sat.

"Join hands," Ben said, putting his forward, palms up.

"Um," Rey frowned, because he wasn't really there physically. It took concentration to take his hands. There was a tingle, rapport, and warmth. Just like in the hut and on the cliff, she felt the link between them at the touch. "I feel it."

"So do I," Ben said with a small smile. "It was automatic. I've never had it happen so easily, but then again, I've never had a bond with someone." He looked so pleased about that. "We can skip the next few steps then and go straight to finding him, then. Captain Velovar Gracynn. I was trying to locate him when the bond opened between you and I. I'll have to try again." He concentrated. Rey watched the process, feeling through what he was doing in the Force.

The streaking lights around them intensified, then suddenly stopped. They were surrounded by a stable star field, different from the usual darkness she saw when the bond was active between them. It was like they were floating in space.

" _I hope I'm not supposed to be stopping this from happening," Finn said, watching her. "Whatever it is that's happening." He looked at her hands. It was evident she was holding hands with Kylo Ren. He frowned, remembering how upset she'd been at holding his hand at first on Jakku and how she'd waved him off just minutes earlier. He felt left out and even a little jealous. He definitely didn't think this was a good idea. He also thought … that he needed to focus on being a friend. He settled on the floor next to Rey and kept watch in case she needed something from him._

"Is that the ship?" Rey whispered. She could see darkness moving across the stars with a slim, grey outline along one side.

"Yes. Hold on. We're too far out." Blackness surrounded them, swirled, and haze settled in. But out of it, she could see a man's face. He looked surprisingly young, with bronzed, dark skin, tightly curled black hair, and a goatee. "There he is." It was like she was looking at a portrait (Ben's remembrance of him) overlaid with the reality, which was much less defined. But it looked like a match. It felt like one. "Are we together?"

Rey nodded. She poured her will into his, instinctively sensing how to do it. They joined together, Force blending seamlessly into a single fused stream of power. She could sense Ben struggling for a moment to focus it, but after a bit, he seemed to figure it out.

"Var," Ben said. The image shifted, blurred, and turned to face them.

"What?" The voice sounded watery and distant. Rey had to strain to hear it.

"Var." The face came into sharper focus. Rey could feel the tendrils of the Force seeping into the man's mind. "Velovar Gracynn."

"Kylo Ren." Recognition flashed across his features. He seemed as real as though he were standing in front of her, but his eyes were locked on Ben. Then they shifted to her and widened even more with fear.

Ben said, "You want to do what is best for the Order. Return your ship to the  _Supremacy_  and surrender yourself to General Hux. What is best for the Order is what is best for you."

"I-" Gracynn started. There was a long moment of indecision and resistance. Rey leaned forward, channeling as much energy as she dared. His life depended on it. Many lives depended on it. She'd only used this particular Jedi mind trick once before, but Ben was the one mainly handling the application. Sweat stood out on her forehead. Finn knelt in front of her, looking, but didn't interrupt. On the other side of the galaxy, she felt the captain's strong will do battle with their combined might. Finally, he relented. "I want what is best for the Order. I will return … It is what is best for the Order."

And that was all it took. The bond unraveled, their powers separated, and Rey fell forward into Finn's arms. "We did it!" she said happily. "We did it!"


	7. Crystal Power

_Day 3_

"We should definitely cover the contingency of a ground assault, so I would like to include-"

The Force bond opened. Kylo blinked, trying to tune out Hux's voice. Important though the subject was, this was even more. "Shut up."

"Supreme Leader?"

"Grand Marshal," Ben said, using Hux's newly minted title. "Quiet. And wait."

Rey was struggling with something, something unstable and hot and crackling with Force energy, rapidly spiraling out of her control. She was desperately trying to contain it before it ripped her and the world near her apart. Ben didn't understand what was happening. She had manifested directly before him, cross-legged on the conference table, eyes pressed shut in concentration. Sweat poured off of her. He grabbed her small hands, wrapping them with his own, and poured his energy into her without another thought. He shut his eyes, because everything he could see was a distraction from giving her everything he had.

The escalating maelstrom seemed to get worse at first, with even more power raging out of control.

"Supreme Leader! Ren!"

It was the alarm in Hux's voice that made Ben open his eyes and realize he was shedding what amounted to Force lightning from his body. It arced randomly near him. Hux had retreated across the room. A subtle vibration ran through the ship. "Rey! Throttle it. Focus, like I did with Captain Gracynn. Do you remember what I did? You have to do it! You're the one using the power. I'm just a battery."

She nodded, too far gone or exhausted to speak. But he could feel the storm plateau. The vibration abated and the lightning retreated. He could feel her scrabbling around the edges of the power, gradually getting a harness on it, getting it under control. He squeezed her hands. There was something in them, under his palms – stones, it felt like. That's when he realized what she was doing.

"Put it all into the crystals," he told her.

"I'm trying!" she said, voice cracking under the strain.

He nodded. "Take whatever you need."

He exhaled heavily as he felt her pull even more strongly from him, taking from within him rather than simply accepting what he had to give. This sort of overextension was dangerous. He remembered something Snoke had told him when they'd gone through this process before, forging Ren's saber. Unstable crystals were sometimes untameable. They could absorb the Force-user's life energy and recycle it into the Force – a pretty way of saying it would kill you.

"Be careful, Rey."

Slowly, ever so slowly, the power began to consolidate and concentrate where it was needed. He curled his fingers opposite hers and for a moment, the two of them held the two crystals – one in each hand – equally. They felt solid under his fingers.

"Anakin's lightsaber," Ben said, feeling the truth of the crystal's identity vibrate through him. Where there had been one perfect crystal before, there were now two imperfect ones. He assumed it had been broken in the struggle in Snoke's throne room. By birthright, these were his. He lifted his hands away from Rey's, fingers still curled around the white light that shone so brightly in each hand that he could see his own bones as shadows against it.

"Ren?" Hux could see it, too – twin white stars casting stark shadows across the room.

"Armitage … Shh." It was actually there in his hands, as though Rey had passed him a physical object through the Force bond. He had the crystals, one in each hand, as he sat in the conference room on the  _Supremacy_. He blinked at them slowly. It had come to him – that thing he'd wanted since he'd discovered the truth about his ancestry, torn apart in the throne room. Here it was. He had it in his hands again. Rey had given it to him willingly this time, or perhaps only accidentally. It wasn't like either of them knew what they were doing.

Ben looked up at her face. She was breathing hard, eyes open, watching him. Her hands were still out, palms empty and open, fingers limp at the moment. She seemed to be catching her breath. He could feel the power coursing through him in a circuit, up his arms, across his shoulders, and down the other arm, back and forth. The process had been successful. The kyber crystals could be safely installed into a matrix now, which he assumed Rey had on her end of reality. But the crystals were in his hands, not hers.

"Thank you," Rey said. "I'm ready." She made a motion with her fingers, flexing them as she asked him to return what she'd handed to him.

For one long moment, he stared at her. It wasn't that he was tempted, really, but that he knew he didn't have to give them back. He could keep them. "You took these from me," he said slowly, looking at them. "You're making a weapon … you're becoming more powerful." He looked up at her, at her steely eyes regarding him steadily, both pleading that he not turn against her and angry that he would recognize the opportunity to do so when she'd overlooked it.

Begrudging her power was not the path of love. He knew that, and he turned away from it. With a slight twitch of his brows, he extended his hands to hers. "I surrender all claim to them and put my fate in your hands. They are yours." He curled his fingers around hers as she took the crystals in her palms. The Force bond snapped shut the moment they stopped touching.


	8. Hux Intermission

_Day 3_

Hux regarded Kylo Ren with deep suspicion. Ren had slumped back in his seat, looking dazed. But he was still awake, so Hux snapped at him, "What was that?"

Ren seemed to refocus on where he was, looking around himself uneasily. "It was … nothing."

"Nothing?" Hux snorted. "You emitted Force lightning and told someone your fate was in their hands."

Ren looked up at him for a long moment, obviously trying to come up with a good lie. Hux waited to hear it. Ren said, "Rey contacted me through the Force for help in building a weapon of some kind."

"What sort of weapon? A lightsaber? A starkiller? They both use kyber crystals and that's what those looked like." Hux knew well what they looked like, whether large or small, as they were a core component of Starkiller Base. He'd helped design the place.

Ren smiled slightly at the preposterousness of Rey putting together a second Starkiller Base. "A lightsaber. Although since it uses two crystals, she has to be using a non-standard design."

"Why would you help her? It looked dangerous to you," Hux chided, feeling he at least understood the basics of what he'd just witnessed.

"She's … it's a Force thing."

Hux sighed. "Rey? The girl from Jakku who was with you when Snoke was killed?"

"Yes." Ren grimaced at him. Ren sat up and pulled over the datapad with the troop disposition Hux had been recommending.

"Well," Hux said, "Perhaps it would be best not to discuss, then. Deniability is such a wonderful thing." He was obviously being sarcastic, responding to Ren ignoring the subject and going back to work.

"I agree," Ren said, continuing to ignore it despite the prodding. "Let's start over at the top." He had no qualms asserting his privilege in not telling Hux about Rey. And so he didn't.


	9. Dying of the Light

_Day 4_

Something was happening. Rey opened her eyes and was sitting up in bed before Kaydel Ko had a chance to knock at the door. "What is it?" Rey asked, already reaching for a cloak. She didn't think this was something she was going to go back to bed after.

"The general has asked to see you."

"Okay, I'll be right there." Rey looked at the so-far closed door and strapped on her shoes. She shot a quick glance around her room and impulsively grabbed her new lightsaber staff (Lightstaff? Saberstaff?) before heading out. It was a bit of a hike from the quarters she'd been assigned in the warehouse out across the landing area and into the  _Falcon_ , which Leia had been using as her quarters.

There was enough predawn light to see by. The sun would be up soon. Rey tried to tell herself this was why she'd woke so easily and it wasn't because something very wrong was about to happen. But she didn't believe it. All the dread from the previous few days was bubbling to the surface.

Poe jogged to catch up to her, apparently having been woken by Kaydel as well. Rey looked back to see Kaydel coming along at a more normal pace. There was no one else.

"Do you have as bad a feeling about this as I do?" Rey asked when Poe reached her.

"Probably," Poe answered. "Yeah, come on. Let's find out what it is." He went inside first. Rey followed. Leia was lying on the semi-circular couch.

Chewbacca was standing near the entry to the cockpit. In a grouchy tone, he spoke in his native language: "That isn't what I want." Then he whined: "I don't like it." He made a noise of dissatisfaction and retreated to the cockpit.

"Can't make everyone happy," Leia said. Her voice was weak. She looked drawn and something otherworldly wasn't right about her.

Rey went to a knee next to her. "What's wrong? You  _must_  tell me."

"Is Kaydel here?" Leia asked, struggling to turn her head towards the entrance.

"Not yet," Rey told her. "She will be in a moment."

Poe set up two seats. There was enough room on the couch for one more, even with Leia covering most of it.

"Okay," Leia said. "Let me hold your hands until she gets here."

It was an odd request, but Poe and Rey readily agreed. Leia took one hand in each of hers. There was no strength in her grip. Her eyes shut slowly as though she were falling asleep. Poe rubbed his thumb back and forth over the top of Leia's. He crouched down to get more comfortable and not let go. Rey and Poe exchanged a worried look. Rey felt scared, hurt. Poe looked more accepting of whatever was happening. Seeing that gave Rey strength.

Kaydel entered and took a seat. She had with her a datapad and a recording device which she set up without being given directions. "I'm ready," Kaydel said.

Rey looked over her shoulder at the woman. It was the first time she'd seen her close this morning. After delivering her message to Rey, she'd moved on to Poe and so hadn't been outside Rey's door when she left. Now she saw that Kaydel's eyes were puffy. Her nose was reddened. She'd been crying. The sense of dread surged in Rey's throat so hard she nearly choked.

She exhaled heavily as she turned to look at Leia. It was half a sob. She knew what was happening now. Leia was dying.

Leia opened her eyes and smiled tenderly at her as though she'd heard the thoughts. "It's okay, Rey. It's okay. This had to happen. I'm at peace with it. I've had the chance to make sure we got away safe and to take care of everything that needed to be taken care of. That's a privilege so few people get. I've been blessed in my life. There have been difficult times, but there have been good ones, too. It's okay."

"Is there nothing we can do?" Rey asked. Her own tears were beginning to flow freely. "A medbay? A bacta tank? A cure? What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. It's just my time." Leia reached out and stroked Rey's face before moving her hand back to Rey's. "Luke and I were twins. We've always shared a link. Maybe it's something like what you have with Ben. I don't know. Luke spent so much time cut off from everything and I never finished what little training I did. I've looked through the books you brought. There's enough in there about the balance of the Force for me to understand that I can't go on without him in the world. He's gone and I have to follow, but at least I've had the opportunity to do it in my own time."

Poe raised his other hand so he was cradling Leia's in both of his. He bent forward and kissed her softly on the thumb. Rey pressed Leia's hand to her forehead. She stared at the floor, made blurry by tears.

"I wanted Kaydel here," Leia said, "to make this official. I hereby promote you to general, Poe Dameron. The Resistance is in your hands."

"I'd rather have you leading it," he said quietly.

"Yeah, well, you don't get to make that decision. Promotion or not." She looked to Rey, who looked up at her. "I offered Chewie the  _Falcon_. He doesn't want it. I think I should give it to him anyway, but I thought I'd talk to you. Do you want it?"

"Not really," Rey said. "I think it belongs to Chewbacca, too. Or to Ben."

Leia was silent for a long beat, as though she hadn't thought of giving her son any claim on his father's possessions. He had, after all, killed him. "Ben can take that up with Chewbacca. Everything of Han's is Chewie's; everything of Luke's is yours. You were his last student. He has some credits and a few things. I have some dresses from my mother. I give them to you. Kaydel can give you the details.

"Oh, and R2 and C3PO. They are yours, Poe. I've seen how you get on with BB-8, so I know they'll be in good hands with you. Take good care of them." She gave them both as firm a squeeze as she could manage. "They tell me C3PO was built by Anakin Skywalker. And R2 was his droid. I think that's why they have so much personality. I've never seen the Force as strong with a droid as with those two."

She focused on Poe. "And you, Poe, you've grown a lot. It's brought me joy to see it happen. You're a good man. You're going to be a great general. You're going to bring peace where I kept failing."

He smiled shyly. "You've never failed, General."

"Oh yes I have." She tried to laugh, but it came out as more of a chuckle. "But I know you're going to succeed." She nodded. "I've seen it."

She turned to Rey. "You've grown, too. It's been amazing to watch. You have compassion and hope where no one else would dare. So much courage. So much strength." Leia shook her head slightly. "In ways that have nothing to do with the Force. It's all about you."

"I keep losing people," Rey said with a sob catching in her throat.

"And you keep finding them, too," Leia said with a smile. "That's what's going to save everyone in the end. Even the ones no one else is thinking about saving." She looked to Poe as well. "That applies to you, too."

Leia sighed and leaned back, slowly pulling her hands out of theirs. "The sun's coming up soon." She looked off to the side, in the direction it would rise from. "Tell Ben I still love the light that's inside of him," she said faintly. "I'm so sorry I didn't do the right thing about the dark. Whatever that was." She looked back to Rey. "I never knew. But you do."

Rey's eyes widened slightly. She would have asked what that meant, but Leia slumped back on the cushions, exhausted. "Kaydel has everything else – all the messy details," she whispered. "I'm done." With those last words her spark took flight, lifting into the heavens with the light of the rising sun.


	10. Passing and Past

**A/N: I use some of Mark Hamill's real-life words about Jedi philosophy as damaging things Luke said to Kylo.**

_Day 4_

Rey sat alone in the compartment. She was cross-legged as Luke had directed her to be on the island and as she'd seen Ben when he'd sought out Captain Gracynn from halfway across the galaxy. She concentrated and reached out into the Force. "Ben. Ben Solo."

He was sitting on his bed, one knee drawn up before him and one leg out in front. He felt her attention, a different sort than the opening of the Force bond. This was … surveillance, instead. His brows drew slightly together as she came into being at the other end of the bed. At that point, the bond opened between them as naturally as their powers had combined when they'd touched.

"Rey?" He looked around. There was not darkness around them, but a greyness. "This is different. Did you do this?"

She nodded solemnly. "I wasn't going to wait for us to connect by chance. I remembered how you found that captain who had mutinied. I thought it might work the same way for me to reach out to you."

"That makes sense." He nodded slowly. After a pause, he said heavily, "I felt it," telling her he knew what she'd come to say. One look at his face said as much. It was not tear-streaked as Kaydel's had been (or Rey's, earlier; she'd since composed herself so she could do this), but he looked wounded and vulnerable.

"I thought you might," she said gently, "since you must have with Luke because you knew he had died. I didn't want you to be alone, especially if you knew. And if you didn't, then I wouldn't want you to have to find out any other way."

"I thank you for that." An incredibly pained smile creased his face. "Was it an accident?" he asked, his voice already rough.

Rey shook her head slowly. "She called us in, Poe and I, before the dawn. She said that … after Luke died, she knew she had to go. She'd stayed as long as she could, making sure everyone was safe. But she still had to go."

"She died," Ben lifted one brow, "because of Luke?"

"Because Luke died," Rey said. "They were twins. They were linked somehow."

Ben shuddered. "Then I killed her anyway." There was such bleak desolation in his voice that Rey ached to go to him. She wanted to take him into her arms, his face against her chest like she was cradling something precious. But the most she could do through the bond was fleeting touches and light pressure. He bowed his head and shook, but did not weep. Not yet.

"Breathe," she told him, echoing Luke's words to her. "Just breathe." She stroked his back as much as she could, feeling him through the Force. She could feel his emotions more clearly than the coarse fabric of his undershirt. This was neither dark nor light – his grief was a void of nothingness, of loss, an empty space in the Force where hope did not exist.

"Did she say … did she know," he swallowed, panted, and asked brokenly, "that I didn't do it before? I didn't. And I could have. I know I could have. I'm … I was strong enough. But I didn't want to." Ben lifted his head to look at her. "I made a choice … not to. Did she know that?"

"Do … what?" Rey asked.

"Kill her. When I attacked the  _Raddus_. I was in the TIE silencer. I didn't … fire. But the others with me did. They both died."

"I … think she knew." Rey tried to soften it, but Leia hadn't mentioned that.

"You don't know. I hear it in your voice, in the way you hesitated to say it." He made a single, infinitely bitter laugh. "What does it matter, though? What I did killed her anyway."

Rey looked around the room, seeing only the greyness of the bond. She had tears in her eyes as well. "Don't be so determined to blame yourself. It's not that simple. She died because Luke died and Luke died because he made his own decision, his own choice."

"Because I was hunting you. Because you'd turned me down." Ben bared his teeth but it wasn't at her so much as the situation. "Because, because! It just goes back and back, further and further! I was there with my finger on the trigger, looking down at the bridge of the  _Raddus_  because I needed to prove to Snoke I hadn't been crippled by killing my father! Because I didn't want another master turning on me because I wasn't good enough!"

The whole story came spilling out, mostly in order but not entirely. Ben had never had anyone to listen to it, much less anyone he might have trusted with it. "My father was never there when I was growing up, ever. My mother was always busy, always. They handed me off to Luke like I was defective and it was his mission to fix me. He was a tyrant, never happy with anything I did – 'do or do not; there is no try' – how contemptible to expect an untrained child to be capable the first time? How callous to condemn us for failing, to blame us for not being masters and for needing his help?

"Luke's lessons to me were too much about controlling my dark impulses, developing self-control, bottling it all up if I couldn't make it stop. I knew it was unfair when Luke was teaching me that – everyone did except for Luke. The other students would taunt me about it later! He'd set me to drills about patience and show the others something interesting, then criticize me for being distracted. It happened time after time. When I'd complain, he'd tell me the faster I purged the dark side from myself, the sooner I could join the rest. It made me all the more bitter when I found out I was related to Vader. I knew then that I couldn't get rid of the dark side. He would always sense it in me. It was in my blood. Luke was never going to train me properly. Never!

"And Snoke was always there in a corner of my head, telling me Luke was wrong, that I had a destiny worth fulfilling, that if I continued, I would one day have enough power to overthrow the stars themselves. He taught me little dark side tricks in secret and told me Luke would be angry if he knew. Then I woke to find Luke ready to kill me for it."

"I knew Luke wasn't dead when I collapsed the hut on him. He was Luke Skywalker, Jedi Master, the legend himself!" Ben snarled and spit the name. "He was too strong! I thought he would come for me. I thought he wouldn't give up. That's what he'd told all of us over and over: 'Jedi don't give up!' and 'When a Jedi makes a mistake, he never rests until he makes it right.' I told the other students what he'd done, that he'd tried to kill me. The ones who believed me, came with me. The ones who didn't, who thought they needed to turn me over to Luke for Luke to finish – we fought. They lost.

"I burned down the temple. It was just a delaying tactic. I didn't want him to know what we'd taken with us or left behind. I didn't want him to have a house to stay in or a bed to sleep in. I wanted him confused, slowed, and discouraged. And it worked. It worked better than I'd imagined, but I didn't realize that for years and even then I didn't trust it."

"But Snoke offered us protection against Luke and the whole of the New Republic, where we were the worst sort of criminals for ending the Jedi. Snoke taught us … many things - some useful, some sadistic, some just his twisted idea of entertaining. At first, I loved it - the hate, the power, being able to indulge in everything Luke had told me not to do. Along the way, he turned us against each other just like Luke had, and just as intentionally. He'd laugh about it to us while he'd have us fight for his amusement or to prove we'd mastered a lesson. We had to use the powers on each other rather than anyone else.

"There was nowhere I could go, no one I could turn to who wouldn't betray me. In the New Republic, I would face trial for my supposed crimes. In the Unknown Regions, I had to serve Snoke or be the target of the First Order and all its minions. In the Outer Rim, my mother and the Resistance held sway. No matter where I went, I'd never know where Luke was and I never believed he'd given up. Snoke kept saying Luke was a threat to the very end. You heard him!" He shook his head and shut his eyes. Angry tears streaked down his cheeks now.

"I did." She put her hand on his shoulder. "I heard him. Ben, I see why you want to kill the past. That's awful. But it can't hurt you anymore – none of them can." It was the only comfort she knew how to give him. What had happened, one thing leading to another over such a period of time, seemed impossible to unsnarl. No wonder he was desperate to cast it all aside.

His fingers curled into the blanket on the bed. "I wish you were here in person. So I could smell you. Touch you. Hold you without concentrating, without the Force acting as a bridge. So I could rest next to you." He smiled sadly. "So we could see the sunrise together." He sighed and looked down, wrung out from the emotional tale and his mother's death.

"One other thing, I hope this will help?" Rey told him. Ben looked up at her. "Her last words were for me to tell you she loved you and she wished … she'd known what to have done better." The whole light and dark thing sounded, even to Rey, like a painful way to say she loved part of her son but not the rest. It wasn't something she was willing to pass on, especially as Rey was coming to see the dark as something other than the pure evil Luke and Leia seemed to have thought it to be.

"She died regretting me," Ben said bitterly.

"That's not-" There was a slight jolt that fuzzed their connection. For a moment, both lost their tenuous grip on the other through the Force.

"What was that?" Ben asked.

"We left hyperspace. We should be at Naboo. There was …" Rey swallowed. "She knew what was coming so she made arrangements. Leia said she wanted to be buried here, as the daughter of Padme Amidala." But not Darth Vader. That was not a part of Leia's ancestry she wanted glorified. Rey swallowed again and touched the tear tracks on Ben's cheek. "Please …" she said, hoping he understood what she was begging of him. "Many in the Resistance and the leaders of the New Republic will be here for the funeral. I want them to be safe."

"You don't want me to go?" He understood what she was saying. Tension flared. "You ask me to let my mother's death pass unmarked and unmourned, to deny the last of my family?" His voice was cold and very different from the gentle tone he usually used with her.

"I did not say that," she said carefully, but firmly. "I know you're hurting, but that is wrong."

"You're right," he said after a beat. The tension dispersed and his voice softened again, even if it was a bit stiff at first. "You did not say that. What you ask is fair. It is no different from the secrets you have kept for me, from your friends. She would have wanted peace. She strove for it all her life. I will not dishonor her memory or lead you to regret sharing this with me, or sharing anything with me. I need you, Rey. Tell me when the ceremony will be over. I will visit her grave after they have left."

Rey nodded and told him what she knew of the schedule for the funeral. "Ben?" she said after he had acknowledged the information. When he looked to her, she said, "I will wait for you there."


	11. Reflections

_Day 4_

"My mother has passed away," Kylo said to Hux. "This of no tactical significance to us, but I will need to leave the fleet to make an observance."

Hux's brows drew together slightly. "General Leia Organa is dead? The leader of the Resistance? That has immense significance. How did it happen?"

Kylo frowned at him, wondering how difficult it was going to be to keep his promise to Rey and not have the First Order exploiting the funeral gathering. "She lost the will to live, just like my grandmother."

"Ah. Well, good for us, then," Hux said snidely, entirely misreading Kylo's mood about his mother's death. It was a near fatal mistake.

Wrath shot through Kylo Ren, that someone would have the gall to crow about his mother's death to his face on the same day she'd died. His hand snapped up and a vise grip enveloped the grand marshal's throat, cutting off his air. A moment later, the Force yanked Hux to his knees as Kylo stood behind his desk, volatile and enraged, on the brink of the first violent outburst since Snoke's death. He scanned the man's thoughts, looking for extra incentive, something to make the disrespect a killing offense.

Hux's thoughts were an unsurprisingly frantic mess about his air supply, the pain, anger at Kylo for being an ass, at the Force itself for making this mistreatment possible, and at his own sense of duty that meant he would endure this from Ren just as he had similar from Snoke. It really wasn't enough to kill someone over, Ren felt. He ignited his lightsaber anyway, more as a threat than with the intent of using it. He moved around his desk to the side of it. He glared down at the man and released his Force choke.

The sudden return of air wasn't the relief Hux wanted it to be. He had no sense of Ren's intentions except for his actions. His eyes snapped up to the glowing, spitting lightsaber, which seemed to be a clear sign of an impending execution. It was then that he realized this was not routine abuse. He thought he was about to die, possibly messily hacked to death as the target of one of Ren's tantrums.

Hux scrambled to figure out what he'd said or done to deserve this. A stray comment about Kylo's mother? Hux recalled his own fury at that fighter pilot jeering at him about his mother, his own sensitivity to being a bastard, and deeper down, feelings about the mother he couldn't even remember. He'd lost her when his father had forced him into the prototype program that would later become standardized as the brutal training regime for the First Order.

He kicked himself for having not considered the weight of the full situation. Ren had killed his father just last week. He recalled the broken, emotional muttering Ren had made when Hux had rescued him from Starkiller, physically helping the man into the shuttle before it was too late. Some level of discretion was called for. And to die for this? After everything he'd gone through, this was what he'd be killed for? Hux's eyes jumped from the lightsaber to Ren's face. He would have preferred to have died on his feet, but it was not an honor being extended to him. So be it.

Ren clicked off the lightsaber with a snarl. There just wasn't enough reason – not to murder his own grand marshal. There wasn't even malice in the man's mind, nor rebellion, insubordination, or even argument. Hux was just sort of offended that this of all things would be the reason and way he'd die – at the hands of Ren for a comment taken badly. Kylo stalked off to the viewport. He heard Hux begin to get to his feet and called back, "Stay down! You're safer that way." What was saving Hux's life at the moment was the lack of defiance. Letting the man stand with his nose in the air and a stiff upper lip would not help.

Hux froze in place for a moment, reconsidering. He wanted to be standing for this, but … 'safer'? Kylo wasn't going to kill him? Would something worse happen? Ren was long overdue for raping his mind as Snoke had early on and thereafter as it suited him. Hux sank back to his knees slowly, then put his hands on the floor in the submissive posture Snoke had required of him for that particular application of the Force. He would have resented all of this if it weren't so much an indisputable fact of his life. If he lived long enough, he would have his revenge.

Ren stared out at the star field, trying to find its peace within himself. He turned down the volume on Hux's thoughts until they were a murmur. He only wanted the tone in case something changed. The details were beginning to get nauseating, even though (and because) Ren had gone through too many of the same things himself. Just seeing those thoughts in someone else's mind made him want to slash something into glowing, dripping pieces, but that wouldn't do any good.

It was so different to see other people wearing the scars of the torment he'd gone through in his own life – Rey with isolation and loneliness, Hux with family issues and predatory abuse. For Hux, there was the additional element of relative powerlessness – when facing his father, Snoke, or Kylo Ren. Kylo pursed his lips. Despite everything that had happened to him, he'd never been as helpless in the face of it all as his own grand marshal was.

Ren turned and walked back to his desk. The orange-haired man raised his head slightly, watching him carefully. Kylo set his lightsaber on the desk, pointedly out of his own reach. It was a token gesture and practically meaningless because he could call the thing to him with the Force in an instant. But it was what he could do. He sat down with a sigh. "Rise." He resumed his mind-reading.

Hux got to his feet slowly, still concerned this was a ruse of some sort and Ren would either kill him or wrack his mind. Or maybe inflict some other form of torture – reduce him in rank, restrict his privileges, or throw him around like a doll as he had before. There was no apology in the man. Hux didn't feel bad for what he'd said – he simply realized it had been unwise. The grand marshal settled into parade rest and waited for his master's decision on his fate.

"It is odd," Ren said, "that even the greatest among us can be slaves."

Hux struggled with his emotions concerning that as his thoughts sought to run wild and expose him in ways he had yet to disclose to Kylo Ren. Instead, he focused on Darth Vader's rumored origins as a slave. Kylo had mentioned it before – ever the connoisseur of Vader trivia. The dark lord of the Sith had ended as a slave, too, he supposed. Much as Hux himself was now, towards Ren. Not that he wanted to throw Ren down any shafts. At least, not at the moment. That seemed much too impersonal, especially for the barely controlled turmoil he felt right now.

He realized such a bitter, resentful mental image along with the degree of intensity he had could be taken very badly. Although rattled, he was fairly sure his thoughts were being read right now. Near-daily experience of such with Snoke, over years, had made him very familiar with the sensation. He met Kylo's eyes and fear shot through him, yet made no appearance on Hux's features.

"You're in no danger on account of your thoughts," Ren told him.

Hux made a single, respectful nod. "Supreme Leader. I am grateful for your understanding."

This was true and not sarcasm. There was more understanding going on than Hux imagined. Ren pursed his lips. "Do not speak disrespectfully of my mother again. Ever."

"Yes, Supreme Leader." Another nod. Hux breathed a little easier. He wasn't going to be tortured – at least not today. He was going to be allowed to live and perhaps his evasion had worked. This faux pas could be swept aside.

Ren swallowed. His voice calmed, much as it did when he spoke with Rey. "Take a seat. I called you in because you needed to know I would be leaving, but also because I wanted your advice on how to deal with things." He waited while Hux sat. "The funeral will be held on Naboo. It will be attended by most of the Resistance."

"I see!" A plan began to form in Hux's mind. Orbital bombardment was not out of the question.

"As I said initially," Ren said with a slight edge to his voice, "this is of no tactical advantage to us." His voice softened again. "Grand Marshal, Armitage Hux?"

"Yes?"

"This is a direct order: the First Order will not disrupt my mother's burial service or funeral arrangements in any way."

"But," Hux said, "we could make a single stroke-"

"Repeat to me what I just ordered you to do." Ren's voice was still calm and soft. Patient. As he was with Rey. Somehow, it had never occurred to him to treat anyone else with the same gentleness, but on the other hand, he'd never seen Hux as quite as damaged as he did now. The guy functioned flawlessly so much of the time. He was functioning flawlessly right now. Sort of.

Hux looked back and forth, wanting to argue and then thinking better of it. "We will not disrupt General Organa's services in any way."

"I'm going to probe your mind to make absolutely sure you understand that and intend to obey."

Hux met his eyes for a moment, a bit of confusion about why that sounded like Ren was asking his permission. Then he looked down and gave it, because that was obviously expected. "Yes, Supreme Leader."

Ren stared at him, tilting his head slightly and going no deeper than necessary. He told what he saw so that Hux knew what he was extracting: "I see that you want what's best for the First Order. And you think that could be achieved by an assault at such an event. If you do, not only will the First Order lose its grand marshal, but it will lose its supreme leader. I will kill you and I will leave the Order in ruins. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Supreme Leader."

"I see that you do." Ren nodded. "However, there are still other considerations. This is Naboo. I intend to be public about my identity – that I am Ben Solo, grandson of a queen. I want to talk with you about the ramifications of this and how it would most benefit us."

Hux considered. "This would be done … after the observance of your highly esteemed, honorable mother?"

Ren looked at him levelly. "If I were not reading your mind, I would think that mockery. But I can see you are merely erring on the side of caution. It is still an error. Refer to her in a way that no one will mistake for sarcasm."

Hux tightened his lips and worried silently that he wasn't sure where that happy medium was and Ren was obviously murderously sensitive about it. He went with the resolve to do his best and hope that Ren would retain his newfound tolerance of foibles. It was all he could do.

"Yes," Ren said, answering the question, "it would be after. The next day, perhaps."

Hux nodded. "As you know, all the major systems have nominally accepted our authority as the provisional galactic government. The Resistance has, at most, refitted freighters and cargo ships at their disposal, and perhaps an annoying quantity of out-of-date fighters. Even crippled as our fleet is, we remain vastly superior to anything that can be fielded against us. The only dangers are planetary-based defense systems. Naboo itself is well-fortified, with advanced emplacements put in immediately after the dissolution of the Empire. Against a single star destroyer, we would have no chance. It would take several along with one of the remaining dreadnaughts to effectively threaten them."

"What if I don't want to threaten them?"

Hux blinked at him. "Why not? Do you think you can fly to the surface of a potentially hostile, technologically advanced world without enough military might behind you to force their cooperation?"

"Yes."

Hux blinked more and answered in a flustered manner, "I don't know what to say to that, Supreme Leader. It's naïve! As your grand marshal, I tell you it is tactically and strategically unwise. We have enough ships at our disposal to do this. It would even be worthwhile if we coupled it with a demand for tribute. Naboo is a wealthy planet. It would be an excellent place to start demanding our due. If we tax the New Republic heavily enough, then the insurrection in the Unknown Regions will cease to be the critical problem that it is."

"That is a good point," Ren said softly, looking down at the table. "What we need is a secondary supply line, so we can refuel and re-equip from New Republic locations. Then we're not dependent on the First Order slave factories."

"A broader support base is always a good idea, yes," Hux agreed. "I was thinking more along the lines of confiscation. We need to break Naboo so they are never a threat to us."

"If we break them," Ren said in return, looking up at him, "then they will always be a threat to us."

Hux frowned severely at him. "You seem to have your mind made up to treat them kindly. I will assume that has something to do with the current … situation with the funeral." And, Hux imagined, Ren's prickliness about the whole thing. This was not the hill Hux wanted to die on. There were other planets they could rob later. Hux sighed and adjusted his expectations. "If your sentiment is moving you so strongly, then simply tell me what are you proposing so it can best be executed."

"That's where I want your input. I think I would need to meet with their government and see if they will support the First Order in a true fashion. Not lip service, tribute, or reparation payments."

"There's no point in that - they will not," said Hux indignantly. "Not without gaining some aspect of control of or power over us! Otherwise, they will support us only as much as we force them to. That's how things work."

Kylo Ren shrugged indifferently. "I'll have to see what they say. For that, perhaps it would be a good idea for a show of force in case they are inclined to ask for too much. It would give me more options. Work out how many ships it would take to overwhelm their defenses and double them. Make sure you don't strip out the  _Supremacy's_  screening force by more than a third in case the governors in the Unknown Regions decide to move on us while we're away." Ren contemplated.

Hux said, "So, you are taking my advice after all on the fleet?"

"Yes," Ren said. "That's why you're in here, why I promoted you." The grand marshal leaned back in his chair, his ego inflating a bit at having his input valued even when it clearly contradicted Ren's first instincts of going more or less alone. Kylo continued. "Let's work out the details. The funeral is tomorrow. I want to be there by that night."

"Very well," Hux said. "We have a limited amount of time before the disturbances in the Unknown Regions begin impacting our operational capabilities. The faster we can extract resources from these planets, the faster we'll be back at our full strength."


	12. Peaceful Night

_Day 5_

Despite the darkness of the night, she saw him coming from a great distance. The royal tomb was an enormous, arching stone gazebo-like structure on an island with a long, flat, graceful stone bridge reaching it. It was smack in the middle of the capital city of Theed, but as far as she had been able to tell, the several shuttles he'd landed with had gone through the normal process at port. As it had turned out, there was nothing secret about his trip here, except for his meeting with her.

There were faint lights at intervals along the edge of the bridge. He was a moving shadow across it, walking purposefully and alone. The two plain-clothes guards who had accompanied him stayed at the far end. Whether they were his own or assigned by the Naboo government, she didn't know. He himself was dressed much as he'd been each time she'd seen him before – all in black, except he'd changed his cloak for charcoal grey. It was the traditional color for mourning on Naboo.

His hood was up, but she would have known him anywhere. She knew the way he walked even though she'd rarely seen it. It was clumsy and awkward and somehow graceful and predatory at the same time. It was the sexiest thing – just watching him come to her. At the moment, he was covering ground quickly. She wished she could go out and meet him, but as she could see the guards he'd posted, they would be able to see her if she stepped out. She kept herself hidden, but she knew he felt her presence.

Rey found her heart pounding just to see him, for real this time, with no more distance between them than what was left of the bridge. She remembered the hug she'd exchanged with Finn when he'd escaped the mine on Crait. There had been no reservation. But although she'd been thrilled to see him, it wasn't the same thing as when she looked at Ben. Not the same thing at all! She felt suddenly shy, worried about the impression she'd make, excited about everything Ben Solo.

He stopped as he reached the island and threw back his hood. He looked in her direction. They were some five long strides apart. At this distance, the guards wouldn't be able to identify her as anything but a humanoid form unless they had scopes. She came closer, approaching him slowly, looking up at his handsome, pale face. The scar on his face had healed to no more than a line.

His hair was styled differently. He'd worked an Alderaanian mourning braid into it and obviously done it himself as it wasn't very tight or good. The attempt came off as endearing. The rest of him was similar to how he'd been when she'd seen him last in person, but his expression was more controlled and less raw. He looked a bit more worn in real life than he did in the Force bond. He looked more real, at peace with his flaws, and less idealized.

In person. They were here in person! She was only a step away from him now. He had said nothing, but followed her every motion with his eyes. He was big, just as Finn had remarked. Wide. His sheer size had impressed her before, in the forest on Takodana and again on Starkiller Base. He could easily be intimidating in the darkness, but she wasn't afraid. She knew how he felt toward her.

She reached out to him. He immediately pulled off his glove and offered his hand. She let hers slide slowly over his, skin ticklish. Desire moved her. As they touched, a wave of Force power flowed over her, taking her breath for a moment and making flesh prickle. He seemed similarly effected.

He curled his fingers around hers very gently. They'd never touched like this, ever. Not physically. Not in the flesh. She supposed Kylo had carried her to his shuttle on Takodana and obviously someone had put her in restraints, but aside from a hand on her back to direct her into Snoke's throne room, and another moment of body contact while fighting the guards, he'd never touched her when she was conscious. They'd touched hands through the Force, she'd put an arm around him, touched his face and tried to stroke his back, but he was right – it wasn't the same as the real thing.

She smiled up at him and he down at her. She loved that smile. She had a feeling she was the only one who had seen it like this, warm and affectionate, for years. For a long moment, they basked in one another's presence. Then she switched his hand to her other and led him to the base of one of the pillars where Leia's name had been etched into the stone. She gave his hand a squeeze. He looked from her to the stone, then knelt and removed his other glove so he could run his fingers over the freshly graven name.

"She was like a mother to me," Rey said quietly. She saw Ben's head tilt down and his fingers fall.

"She was … less so, to me. But she was still my mother. The only one I had. I am proud to be her son." He looked at the blank blocks near the one he knelt in front of. "Do you think I should have something marked for Luke?"

"He said he didn't want to leave that island. Ever. If you did, I wouldn't put it here unless it's the custom to list all the relations." With everything that had happened, she had not had a chance to do much research on Naboo burial customs. She'd worn her best outfit (which wasn't saying much – it was the same that she'd had on for the trip to the  _Supremacy_ ) and a mourning token an official with the Naboo government had given her after they'd landed. She already had grey in her outfit. But she hadn't thought about how to, or if, they should memorialize Luke. "He's one with the Force now," she added. "I think that's all he would have wanted."

"It's all anyone can ask for." Ben looked over his shoulder at her. "Ach-To can be his final resting place, then." Haltingly, he said, "If it is possible, I will observe their wishes."

She nodded. "I'll give you some time alone." She moved away, over to where she'd stowed her knapsack and staff.

"No," he said anxiously. "I want to be with you." He followed to join her, sitting cross-legged as she did. He scooted close until his knee just barely touched hers.

Rey gave him a long, absorbed look – at his eyes, his hair, his cheeks, his lips – then back to his eyes. He watched with rapt attention. She reached out again and he jumped to meet her hand, just as he had before. He held his hand still as she touched it, exploring him in the flesh the way she'd so often dreamed in the few days that had passed since this bond had formed between them. A small smile turned up the corners of his mouth. He hooked his pinkie finger over one of hers, tangling their hands together as the smile grew.

She smiled warmly, amused, and pulled her hand back. "I have to ask something - I some concerns and I don't know how to be delicate about this. I can wait until later if you prefer."

He gave her a sidelong look and a smile that was just as amused as hers. "When have you ever been delicate? Just tell me. I have been reading the minds of my subordinates lately to get a better understanding of how I should lead. I'm sure you won't say anything as provocative or insulting as some of what I've had to sit through."

"Okay, then." She took a deep breath. "I heard that you arrived with … eighteen star destroyers and two dreadnoughts. If you don't count Snoke's flagship, that's a more formidable a force than Snoke used when he tried to wipe out the Resistance."

"The Resistance had one capital ship and a few support vessels," Ben said. "Naboo has an excellent planetary defense system. I had originally thought I'd come alone, quietly, spend a day and return. But my advisors strongly recommended against." He sighed. "The only practical way I could come quickly was to make it a state visit."

"You arrived early," she chided him. "I want to be harsher about this, but I know we didn't agree on a time and technically, you did arrive 'after the funeral'. But I was expecting that to be a few days later and not, like, an hour. Not everyone in the Resistance had time to leave Naboo. In fact, most of them are still here and they feel trapped."

"There is no embargo," he said defensively. "My ships are merely parked. As long as no one shoots at us on their way out, they can leave whenever they please."

She shook her head slowly. "Ben, this sounds so much like it was engineered. Like you took my words and twisted them."

"I did not. I swear."

"What are we to do? Fly out and have you catalog everyone's vessels? All you have to do is make a log of who leaves and then investigate later. The First Order won. Everyone's terrified of what you'll do next."

"Have them just wait, I suppose. I'll meet the Naboo royalty tomorrow and leave." He sighed and pursed his lips, looking uneasy. "Hux wants me to demand tribute. I don't believe I will. It seems so … inappropriate."

"Tribute? For what? A reward payment for destroying the Senate? You should be visiting the markers for those of Naboo who were on Hosnian Prime when Starkiller Base took it out." Her voice turned severe for a moment. "It seems inappropriate because it is, Ben. If anything, the First Order owes the galaxy!"

"I can't argue that. Like I said yesterday, it goes so far back."

She wrapped her hand firmly around his. He jumped a little and looked at her with big eyes. "Then stop carrying it forward! You're right – don't ask for tribute; you should be offering restitution instead."

"That's too far," he said quietly. "We don't have the resources … for that."

"You don't have the resources to say you're sorry for killing billions?"

"That's not what you said. I can offer condolences. But not payment."

"It's not about money," she said.

"Yes, it is. Or at least, it's about resources. We don't want tribute as some token of dominance. I-" He shut his mouth, looking away.

"What?" Rey asked. Ben glanced at her and then looked away again. She put her other hand on his, holding his hand in both of hers now. "Ben, you wanted me to join you." She stroked his hand. "That's not what's happening, but we are working together. I trust you. I think I love you."

That brought him around, his lips parting, his eyes wide. Rey reached up and put her hand to his cheek, guiding him forward as she leaned in. Their lips touched and it was electric, lighting her up within. He made a soft and desperate sound of wanting and then he was pushing forward, kissing harder. Rey's hand slid past his cheek into his hair, making a shameless fist there and pulling to keep him from crowding her. He would bowl her over if she let him. She tasted him with a growl, then the possibility that they were about to do something even more involved in front of Ben's mother's tomb stopped her.

Rey tilted her head down to end the kiss, panting. Ben swallowed roughly and waited, his hand moving restlessly on her forearm. Growing up on Jakku, Rey had not had the opportunity to learn many social graces, but certain things were universal. Showing respect to Leia did not include making out with her son in front of her grave. It also didn't include seducing said son, who had gone through hell the last two weeks, to a degree she couldn't even imagine. Rey said quietly, "You're compromised right now. This isn't fair to you."

"I'm always compromised with you," Ben said huskily. She could hear him breathing, feel it against her temple. His lips touched there, grazing over her skin so softly that she moaned and shut her eyes while he did it. It was Ben that pulled back, slowly canting back to a normal posture. His eyes were on her constantly. She could feel them even though she was looking down at his hand, which had slid down her forearm to return to her grip.

"I was just saying," she struggled to say, "that I want to help you. Not in extorting Naboo, but in … ruling the galaxy. You're not going to succeed through oppression. We will oppose you. I will oppose you."

Ben shook his head. "I don't want to be another emperor. I don't want this to be an empire. Right now all we're doing is consolidating. Repairing ships. Other … things."

He was still leaving something unsaid, but if the kiss and the offer of help didn't get him to speak, then she resolved to leave it alone. "Tell me then, what are you going to go over with the king tomorrow?"

He sighed and looked chastised, like a boy whose teacher was scolding him about unfinished homework. "I don't know."

"Could I help you figure it out?" Rey offered.

He looked up at her in surprise. "Yes. That might … help. Yes."

"What are you trying to accomplish? If it's not demanding tribute, but you're interested in resources, are there things you need to purchase? An advance on taxes or something? Finances aren't my specialty, but we can talk this out."

He chuckled. "It's not mine, either. Logistics, sourcing, arms dealers, funding, project management!" Ben rolled his eyes and rubbed at his face with his free hand. "That's not what I trained in. Hux would do it all for me if I wanted, but that's how I ended up with an armada in orbit and me down here trying to figure out how to avoid mugging my grandmother's people. And we're only that light-handed here because he thinks I'm too 'sentimental' about my mother's passing. If it were up to him, this would all be an ultimatum at the end of a blaster."

"Ignore him for now. What do you want the First Order to do?"

Ben pursed his lips and focused, staring forward as he spoke. "The First Order's mission is to bring civilization and stability to the galaxy. Ideally, to return us to the Galactic Republic that reigned for over a thousand years. We're living in ruins now. Entire planets mined out, populations enslaved, organized crime and warlords, smugglers and thieves everywhere. I'm the most powerful man in the galaxy and I literally cannot come to a supposedly peaceful client planet without my keepers worrying that I will go missing if I do not have half of a fleet waiting in the wings." Ben tilted his head at her. "Do you know … how strange that is?"

"I don't know what to say to that. That's how it's always been in my life."

"I suppose they didn't teach history on Jakku."

"I know things!" she said with teasing indignation, swatting his knee with a smack from one hand while still holding his with the other. His shocked expression at the blow made it worth it, but only because he then made a low chuckle, gave her a toothy smile very different from his previous ones, and let his eyes roam over her face like he wanted to kiss her again. They both fell silent, watching each other. Rey made a note to herself that striking Ben (something she'd done repeatedly through their interactions, with lightsabers, blasters, and anything else she could get her hands on) obviously did not put him off. She started to lick her lips. He started to lean towards her. "Maybe," she demurred, "I know some things, yes, but not history."

Ben shifted his weight back, sitting in a manner more normal for conversation rather than potentially kissing her. "Of course," he murmured, and it was one of the sexier things he'd said. He didn't sound disappointed. She knew it was him acquiescing, agreeing, and being polite about it. More normally, he said, "It's strange. And a sign of how unsettled these times are. That you grew up without access to a good education is another sign. That you grew up in a sort of slavery, as you recounted the other night. It must be stopped. It's not the galaxy the Order wants."

"Doesn't the Order have entire planets devoted to training stormtroopers from birth, and factories manned by slaves?"

"Yes." He sighed, shifted his weight, and then drew away from her to stand and pace. "I have to break that entire model somehow."

"Can't you just tell them not to?"

Ben kept pacing. "Ships, weapons, troops have to come from somewhere. I'd like to talk about having them come from the core worlds of the New Republic instead."

"Wait," Rey said, getting to her feet. "That's an option?"

He looked wary, but said, "Yes?"

"Am I understanding you right that transferring the First Order into the control of the core worlds is an option?"

"Control is different from supply, but yes, both are an option that I would like to discuss. If we started with supply, it will naturally progress into control."

"The Resistance is trying to organize something very much like that. We were talking about it today! They're going around to all the systems and trying to get them to sign on to a mutual defense pact, a sort of trade alliance, where we all agree to sabotage the First Order as much as possible – sell you bad munitions, tainted food, impure fuel, whatever we could get by with!"

Ben looked appalled.

"No, listen!" she continued. "There's no reason to vandalize everything if the Order is part of the same organization. That could be the start of the government! That alliance pact. They still needed to work out details, but at the funeral today, all of Leia's allies got together and agreed on the goal."

Ben continued to look ill. If anything, he looked worse.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes." He rubbed the lightsaber scar on his cheek. "Hux was right. The funeral was just a cover for our enemies to plot against us."

"We have to be able to trust each other, Ben. You and me. It's the only way we can work this out. If the Order had attacked during the funeral, there would be no chance at this. It's bad enough your ships are out there in orbit after I told everyone, gave them my word as a Jedi which apparently means a lot to them, that the Force had shown me they'd be safe."

"I did not know you had made those promises," he said quietly. At her widening eyes, he said, "But what I said earlier was true. They are safe, assuming they do not deliberately provoke us."

She nodded, glad to hear that and reassured. "We can work as a team on this. Even if we have to struggle at times and it's not as automatic as the things we do through the Force. We're both trusting each other, with no more than hope to go on. That makes this so fragile. But we'll make it work. Together."

Ben drew close to her and rubbed the outside of her arms lightly.

"Tomorrow," Rey continued, "when you're going to have your visit with the king and his councilors, you need to meet with the Resistance leaders as well."

His brows rose slightly. "Will they? Meet with me?" He was fondling her elbows, of all things. As much as she would have liked to have allowed that to continue, it was going to inevitably lead to much more. She pulled away.

"I don't know. I'll have to ask. What sort of promises can you keep?"

He swallowed and pursed his lips. "They can retain their safe passage. Aside from that, I don't know what promises they want. I want to talk; not fight."

"With those ships in orbit, they're going to be hard to convince to meet with you." She tilted her head. "You didn't answer my question. There's a High Command of the First Order. You've mentioned them before. You've mentioned that people might disobey you. You've also said it was Hux's idea to make this a military maneuver instead of a simple graveside visit. If any of these people know you're in talks with the Resistance leadership, what will happen?"

He frowned. "My grand marshal is an exceptionally obstinate man. If he thought I was betraying the First Order, he would have me shot from orbit. I don't think I would fare as well as Luke Skywalker under the sort of firepower he will put my way. Direct mental control is out of the question. He is entirely dedicated to the Order, much more than Gracynn."

"What if you bring him with you?"

"What?"

Rey repeated herself. "What if you bring him with you tomorrow? Let him be part of the talks. He can't order orbital bombardment if he's in the target area."

"I think you underestimate Armitage Hux, but it's a good idea. There's no way he can claim I'm a traitor if he's right there with me." Ben thought it over and nodded slowly. "Yes, I can do this. Hux has many of the same motivations that I do. He wants to accomplish them differently, but the goals are the same. It's worth trying. I'll return to the fleet tonight and bring him with me tomorrow."


	13. Landing

_Day 6_

The seemingly endless stream of 'I don't know how you talked me into this, we're all going to die, this is wildly imprudent, should I tell Ren that again or have I already said it too often?' of Hux's thoughts had ended. Now Ren was picking up scenarios – what to do if they were betrayed by the Naboo king, what to do if there was a genuine accident, what to do if their ships were assaulted by the Unknown Region forces while Ren and Hux were on Naboo. The change was heartening. It meant Hux had accepted their mission and no longer looking for a way out of it.

They descended through the thick Naboo atmosphere in four tri-winged Imperial shuttles, stately and menacing. Two carried troops. Two carried staff and officers. Ren and Hux were together aboard the same one, another thing Hux had objected to. It was bad form to put your highest-ranking officers together. Ren had insisted. They were escorted down by TIE fighters and two of the star destroyers had moved forward to provide cover should it be needed.

The command of the fleet had been left with Captain Peavey aboard the  _Finalizer,_ which was in formation behind the dreadnoughts. They were not at full attack posture, but they were certainly ready to go to it in an instant: high alert with no serious expectation of being mobilized.

Ren moved next to Hux where the grand marshal was staring blankly at a display. His mind was elsewhere - trying to read between the lines on the last few reports and determine how likely Edrison Peavey was to blow them all up from space, because it seemed like a really good idea if their positions were reversed. Ren waited quietly until Hux noticed him.

From the outside, Hux twitched and no more. From within, there was fear and then anger and then the dissipation of both, capped off by a realization that Ren was intentionally allowing him to respond in his own time. He took a few breaths and turned his eyes to the supreme leader. "Sir?" Hux asked calmly.

 _Can you hear me this way?_  Kylo projected into Hux's mind.

The grand marshal winced.  _Yes._

_You seem uncomfortable with it._

_It's … further under my skin than you usually are._ To have Kylo Ren's voice inside his head, bouncing around with his own, was disorienting for his identity. It reminded him too starkly of some of Snoke's deeper probes, where Hux couldn't tell where he ended and the monster began. It made him feel like a puppet – like his autonomy was useless to Ren. He could feel his heart rate rising, breathing getting shallow. Hux had processes to calm himself. He started using them.

"Let's go aft where we're alone," Ren said.

Dread washed through Hux, but he followed. It was, after all, unusual that Ren (or Snoke, for that matter) would seek out privacy to use him. When the door shut behind them, Hux went to the usual parade rest with a distant focus.

"You don't need to do that," Ren said. "I won't do it again unless it's absolutely necessary."

Hux's eyes slid to him slowly. "You may do as you like, Supreme Leader."

"I know." Ren took a seat. "I only wanted to recap our goals where we wouldn't be overheard."

"You're nervous," Hux accused. "You're uncertain about my loyalties. You're compensating by keeping me close. This is a problem that is within your capability to solve," Hux said softly, referring to the deeper mental probe Ren had yet to subject him to, after nearly a week.

Ren opened his mouth to deny it, then thought about who he was talking to. "You're nervous, too." He deliberately ignored the rest of what Hux had said. The man was jumpy and upset about this whole mission, but particularly set off by just that one exchange of telepathic contact and the apprehension that there would be more.

Hux didn't argue. He also noticed the soft refusal to read Hux like a book. "I am. You're untested. This is a very different sort of combat that neither of us is well trained in. You're right. We should go over our objectives again."

Ren nodded. "My goal is to find out if the leadership of the Republic, New Republic, Resistance, whatever they want to call themselves, is willing to put aside differences and join with the First Order. I want to minimize future conflict. I want to push them towards putting together a centralized government that we could ally with, but that would be years down the line."

"Ally with?" Hux snorted. "Control, you mean. At least, that's what you should mean. The more you talk, the more I see that's not where you're going."

Ren sighed. "This is why I'm keeping you close. We need to work together on this." Rey's 'don't go this way' still echoed in his mind, even if he'd seen her just the night before and she'd promised to work with him. He was still struggling to figure out how to get Hux to 'go his way' without just Force-choking the guy into submission. But he was seeing progress, however small.

Hux frowned at him. "I see this expedition as information-gathering only. You seem to believe it would be worthwhile to allow self-governance in this part of the galaxy. I will humor that as long as you don't do anything stupid, such as make promises you feel inclined to keep or sign treaties that aren't entirely in our favor. Your insistence on my attendance is … both wise that I will be here to direct you, and worrying because you take your most reliable servant out of the fleet and put me in a dangerous situation with you. Our enemies would have to be daft not to strike at us. I believe you have an inflated opinion of the Force's ability to protect you. Or me."

Ren rubbed his face and decided to take all that commentary as Hux doing his duty in warning him of dangers and otherwise agreeing to do as Ren directed. Even if some of it was intensely disrespectful. There was something more important than his ego that he needed to talk to Hux about. "Do you remember the girl, Rey?"

"The garbage picker who cut you to pieces on Starkiller and was in the throne room with you when Snoke died? The one in whose hands your fate lies? Of course, I do." Hux's amusement about Rey besting Kylo at least twice was obvious in his voice. He almost laughed.

But his wording … Ren considered that: 'in the throne room with you'. Hux had never asked for details on what happened in the throne room, though many times Ren had caught thoughts from the man indicating he knew there was more to the story. But even though a few in the High Command had demanded an investigation be carried out, none had happened. Hux had responded that it definitely would be – very important, of course! – but it had been less than a week since the Battle of Crait. They'd been very busy. Hux had heretofore been distracted by more important matters. Or so he kept telling High Command.

"She's going to be there," Ren said leaving the lie about Snoke's killer as it was. "She is the Resistance's version of myself."

"Joy," Hux said joylessly. "Where does the Resistance keep finding these blasted Force users? What was she, the last disciple of Luke Skywalker?"

"Yes, she is." Ren was annoyed by Hux rolling his eyes at this. He went on, "She promises that we will be safe."

"She's your counterpart? The leader of the Resistance? The one you were helping make a lightsaber through the Force?"

"Yes."

Hux's brows drew together disbelievingly. "They replaced General Organa with a trash collector? The Resistance must be very hard up for recruits."

"No," Ren said with a brief show of teeth. He could swallow disrespect towards himself. Towards Rey? Not so much, but he wasn't sure he wanted Hux to know how much Rey meant to him. "They replaced General Organa with General Dameron. Rey is more … a spiritual leader. I don't know how to describe her role because I don't know the details. She hasn't shared that with me, but I know she's important to them."

"I'm not certain I care to know the details, either, but I suppose I need to find out. I'll make sure our espionage efforts in the Resistance include her. If you believe you can wager your life and mine on her word, then so be it. We should be landing quite soon so the matter is already settled. If we're killed, Captain Peavey will be pleased to have been proven right about me and I will have deserved it for letting you talk me into coming down here!"

"I ordered you to come down here," Ren reminded him. It had been very simple – no mind tricks required. Just an order followed by an absolute refusal to discuss it or reconsider. "Peavey isn't going to betray you," Ren said dismissively. He stood, feeling the shuttle slowing, coming in for landing. Hux glanced expectantly towards the front of the ship, feeling the same thing. "I have reviewed his loyalties," Ren explained. "He's much more loyal to you than to me."

"As you have not reviewed mine?" Hux asked as Ren moved to the door.

"You put me in charge," Ren said, sizing up his grand marshal. "No one's ever done that before – let me choose my own course – not unless I didn't give them a choice and you had one. You could have had me gassed in my chambers after Crait. Or last night. On the surface, you have every reason to. I know I'm useful to you and … 'malleable'. But I have a sense there's more to it, or will be." Kylo headed forward to give last-minute instructions to their staff before debarking.


	14. Wet and Wild

_Day 6_

Poe looked at the insignia on Hux's dress uniform. "Grand marshal, huh? What, do you get promoted every time you lose a battle? I'm surprised the whole First Order aren't generals, then."

"Eliminating my enemies from the field is hardly 'losing'. I'll wager you had more ships in your squadron when you were a commander than you have under you now as a so-called 'general'."

"You don't need a big fleet when you're not a bunch of tyrants and slavers. You ought to try it."

"If you had any legitimacy at all, perhaps you'd have the support of more than the malcontented scum of society!"

"Show some respect," Ren said, chiding Hux for getting too strident. The first day of attempted negotiations with the Resistance had gone … about as well as one might expect for two sets of people bent on killing one another, still nursing very fresh wounds and bitter hatreds. But they'd managed to get through most of it and Ren had hopes they could get through what little of the first day was left.

"You know how difficult that is for me when it's not earned," Hux complained to Ren, but honestly he seemed in good humor about it.

"Legitimacy?" Poe said, not done with the argument. "That's rich coming from Armitage the-" Poe stopped because Kylo Ren stepped between them, one black-gloved hand raised towards the Resistance general.

"Both of you," Ren said.

Poe stared at him silently with dead eyes. Ren stared back, utterly unmoving.

Rey finally said, "Poe? Are you okay?" She'd been in a different group, but the conflict had drawn her attention. There were ground rules everyone had agreed on, one of which was not using Force powers to suborn or harm one another.

"Yeah, I'm fine. He's not doing anything. He's just making a threat." Poe kept staring for a moment or two more, then looked past Kylo's shoulder at Hux. Hux had turned a redder shade, but was holding his tongue. His sensitivity to 'Armitage the bastard' was well-known. Poe could see he'd scored the point anyway, having said enough that it was clear where he was going with the comment, yet having cut himself off quickly enough that he hadn't actually said it. Perfect. He gave Hux a wink and walked away.

* * *

Later that evening, formal talks finished for the day, Poe finally saw a moment where Hux was not within arm's reach of Kylo Ren. (Really, the First Order people stayed ridiculously clumped up, like they couldn't not be in some sort of formation.) The grand marshal was standing near the door to the veranda, sipping a glass of white wine and staring outside, his thoughts obviously elsewhere. "Hey," Poe said as he walked over to the opposite side of the double doors. Hux turned to look at him with a frown. "We need to talk about that war criminal stuff," Poe said.

"Seems fairly straight-forward." Hux took another sip. "The entire Resistance is a war crime."

"Yeah, well, from our point of view-" Poe blinked, having glanced to the side and noticed the reason for Hux's choice of location. Out on the veranda, Kylo Ren and Rey were leaning against the stone balustrade some twenty or so paces off, facing the water and talking under the starry night sky. He blinked. They were holding hands. Or at least, Kylo's gloves were off and his hand was over hers where it rested on the stone between them. Their faces were very close to one another. It looked for all the world like they had been or were about to be, kissing.

Poe's head whipped back to Hux. He noticed the man was mostly obscured from the pair outside by the curtains. Had he been chaperoning or something? Impulsively protective, Poe moved out onto the stone terrace. "Hey, what's going on out here?"

"No!" Hux whispered, following him out.

Neither of the interrupted parties were happy to see Poe. Both turned and faced him.

"I knew you liked him," Poe said, "but are you okay? Leia said he couldn't be trusted alone with you."

Kylo's expression darkened. He put his gloves back on. Rey shook her head. "I'm fine. It's not your concern, Poe. Leia wasn't right about everything."

"Uh, it is my concern. She made me general. You're telling me Leia was wrong?" Poe gestured at Ren. "Look at the guy! He's a walking advertisement for the Sith! He's killed everyone in his family and the guy he worked for, too! I've been on the wrong end of this guy. Everything Finn said was true, you know. It just came out wrong."

"What?" Rey said, feeling betrayed that they had to go over this again, in front of Ben, no less. It was embarrassing and humiliating.

"I have a very large body of water behind me," Kylo said in a low, dangerous voice and a single shake of his head. Hux came up on Poe's right, arms crossed. Behind him, Finn had come to the doorway, aware there was trouble brewing. Rey looked livid.

Poe hesitated, because Ren's statement made no sense, but Kylo was obviously threatening him just like he had earlier. There was, indeed, a lake right behind them with the shore starting under the veranda itself. "Good for you, buddy. Go take a jump in it," Poe said. The guy couldn't hurt him with the Force without getting kicked off the planet (or at least, that was the idea – whether it would really happen was a good question.)

"Poe!" Rey said in outrage at his continued antagonism.

"Ha," Kylo said humorlessly. "You first." With that, he extended his hand to the general and used the Force to fling him in an arcing path over their heads and fifty or so paces into the lake. He hit with a splash.

Rey wheeled, staring out at where Poe had ended up. "Poe!" She turned on Ren. "You don't do that!"

"He's not hurt," Ben said.

She might have said something in response, but there was a scuffle behind him. Finn had run forward – it was unclear what he'd intended to do because Hux tackled him from the side before he got halfway to the pair. They rolled across the stone, grasping and tussling.

"Stop struggling!" Hux shouted. "I will get in so much trouble if I hurt you!"

The comment was so odd that Finn froze. It was only then that he noticed there was a monomolecular-bladed knife at his throat. "Where did you get a knife?" Finn said, baffled. "Everyone's supposed to be unarmed!"

"Let him go!" Rey ordered. Hux looked at her, then Ren, who nodded quickly. Hux released Finn and got to his feet, backing away. He turned the knife upward along his forearm so it wasn't as visible. Several people had come to the doorway to see what was going on. Finn stood and angrily brushed himself off. He glared at Hux, who glared back at him.

"Neither of you are hurt. Drop it!" Rey said. Both men looked at her and didn't argue. Hux did not drop his weapon, even assuming that was what Rey had meant, but Rey didn't wait to make sure. Instead, she wheeled and ran down the steps, circling towards the water below. Ren followed her like her shadow. A moment later, Finn and Hux followed, each shooting the other hostile looks as they ran.

At the water's edge, Rey plunged in without hesitation, but stopped when the water was up to her armpits. "Poe! Hang on!"

Kylo stayed on the bank. He extended his hand, fingers curling. It was obvious he was channeling the Force.

"Hey!" Finn yelled, throwing himself at the guy in the assumption Kylo was trying to drown his friend (either of them). In an instant, Ren's attention shifted. Finn was jerked to tiptoes and left clawing at his neck like so many First Order officers had done in the past. Hux moved to his leader's side and smirked at the former stormtrooper's plight. He knew good and well what that felt like. Kylo looked back out in the water. Rey was doing exactly what he'd intended to do – using the Force to pull Poe into shallower water where he could regain his feet.

The hand Ren had directed at Finn opened, fingers splayed. Finn could breathe now, but the rest of his body was frozen. His arms snapped down to his sides. He was lowered so his feet rested on the ground normally. "Let me go," Finn growled.

"Not yet," Kylo said, watching as Rey and Poe began wading out together. They reached the bank, both dripping water. Rey looked from Finn to Ren. Kylo shrugged. "He was complicating things. I didn't hurt him. Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," she said evenly. "Release him."

Ren dropped his hand. Finn shuddered as he shook off the tendrils of the Force. "I hate that."

"So do I," Hux said quietly from the other side of Ren. Even though it was barely over a whisper, it carried because everyone else was silent. They all looked at him. "What? The Force is awful."

Poe snorted and then he started laughing. He went to the ground and sat, facing the water, and laughed harder. "Very large body of water – ha!" Poe grinned in good humor. "You got me there. Totally got me. I did not see that coming and I should have."

There was a menacing splash as something as large as a fully-grown Hutt surfaced, rolled, and disappeared under the water out where Poe had been.

Finn said, "Uh, maybe we should get away from the water? I think I saw tentacles." He grabbed Poe under the arm and hauled him up and away. Rey moved herself. Kylo did the opposite – going the water's edge between the creature and the three as they moved up to where the stone steps began. Hux glanced back and forth between them, then set himself next to and a few feet back from Ren, knife in hand. The water swirled again, closer to shore.

Poe said, "Come on, guys. I get it. You're gonna protect us from the monsters. Come on back up here before you kill some Gungan's pet sea-nerf and get us all in trouble."

Kylo backed up. Hux moved with him. Whatever it was didn't seem to want to come into the shallower water. It waved a few rubbery arms above the surface of the water and eventually moved off.

* * *

After getting minimally dried off, Dameron moved over to where Hux was standing. He had a question he wanted to ask and didn't want to miss his chance at it. "So, uh," Poe said quietly, "Hugs?"

The orange-haired man pivoted slowly, an expression of loathing on his face.

"Grand Marshal. Sorry," Poe smiled charmingly and shrugged helplessly.

"What?" Hux hissed at him.

Poe moved in a little closer to speak quietly. Hux stiffened and drew his head back like that was far too close. Poe still smelled strongly of lake water and while it wasn't a terrible odor, it wasn't pleasant. "Earlier you said you weren't any good at showing respect if it wasn't earned. Right?"

"You heard me." He was definitely looking down his nose at Poe at the moment. He sniffed distastefully.

Poe raised his brows and moved his tongue along the inside of his cheek. His eyes jerked to the side along with a side tilt of his head. He indicated the black-clad form a dozen or so paces away. One finger uncurled for a second to point, because Hux was staring at him like the facial contortions were a sign of mental instability.

Reluctantly, Hux looked over at Ren, then back to Poe. "What are you getting at?" His voice was low now, matching Poe's.

"I haven't seen you be anything but respectful to him. Finn said you clobbered him when he tried to go for that guy. When that fish was out in the water, you were right there next to him with nothing but a knife." Poe chuckled. "You weren't doing that to protect  _us_. I've been in enough combat, man, to know you're willing to die for him. Why is that?"

Hux pursed his lips and waited several moments while he considered how to answer. "The details are none of your business, but your assessment is correct."

"I think it is my business if we're going to have some kind of alliance and if Rey's as into him as it looks. I need to know who I'm working with." Poe shook his head a little. "It's like he's not the same guy Leia was warning us against, or I met on Jakku."

"He is not the same man that he was while serving Snoke. Neither am I. And for that, I am grateful."

Poe nodded. "Okay. That's a pretty good answer." He reached out and telegraphed a slow slap to Hux's upper arm, one that was sneered at by the recipient, and said, "I didn't expect to get much information anyway. Maybe a hug, but not much else."

"You smell like the scum that you are. Might I recommend a shower?"

Poe looked him up and down like he was considering attempting a hug anyway. Or maybe something else. "Sure," he smiled. "Want to join me?"

"No," Hux said with emphasis.

Out of the corner of his eye, Poe saw Kylo Ren turn and head their way. Poe gave him a quicker slap on the arm and headed off to get clean. Hux's upper lip twitched in the beginning of the snarl. He stared at the back of Poe's head.

Ren said quietly, "Everything okay?"

"Yes," Hux responded in the same low tone. "They're beginning to trust you."

"Good."

"By the way," Hux said even more quietly, "Earlier … I didn't hear anything about who killed Snoke."

"Ah." Ren nodded. "That's probably for the best."

"Yes." Hux looked away. "It is."


	15. Pux or Hoe

_Day 7_

"Hey," Poe walked over after the break for lunch began and leaned on the table nearest to Hux, crossing his legs and the ankle and tilting his body towards the grand marshal. "I like to think of myself as a hotshot pilot who always gets what I'm aiming at. You shot me down yesterday. I've been thinking about that. What would it take to make you change your mind?"

Hux's eyes widened slightly and his brows rose. He looked around. They were standing in the refectory along with a few score other personages who were taking part in the ongoing negotiations between the New Republic and the First Order. This was not a private conversation. Anyone who cared to hear could and quite a few were obviously listening.

"I turned you down because I was not interested," Hux ground out, wondering how polite he was required to be.

"You see, that's what I want to know," Poe said, leaning forward a bit more, looking like he was hanging off Hux's every word. "What would make you interested?"

"Are you so desperate that you think this is a good idea? A wise move?" Hux continued to be too lost and surprised to be anything but incredulous at this persistent approach.

Poe looked Hux up and down – twice – both times with an expression of obvious lust. "Don't sell yourself short, Grand Marshal. No one has to be desperate to be interested in you. You are a really good-looking man. I'll bet you have to beat people off with a stick. Or maybe we won't need a stick."

Hux colored slightly, something that showed up instantly on his pale skin. He shot a glare at Kylo Ren, who was nearby, listening to one of the staff describe and identify the various Naboo hors d'oeuvres. Kylo was either truly oblivious (possible, especially when food was involved) or pretending to be so (also possible). Either way, Hux was on his own.

He turned back to the Resistance general. "I am not interested. I am married to my work. It's very fulfilling. Thank you and good bye!"

Poe didn't go anywhere. "There has to be something you're into." He straightened, leaving the table to move closer to Hux as the grand marshal tried to get away. "But listen to me," he leaned forward in his most genuine manner. "What would make you change your mind? What can I offer? Do? To spend some time with you. We don't even have to do anything particular."

Poe's sincerity was palpable. Hux continued to be flustered by it. He could have dealt handily with just about anything else, but honest admiration and interest was totally unfamiliar to him. "I- I would at least have to know this wasn't another elaborate prank. I've seen your idea of humor and I don't appreciate it!"

"Okay, okay," Poe said gently, hands up in surrender. "No jokes. Got it. It's not a prank." Poe glanced over at Kylo, who had moved off to the other end of the table, his plate mostly full now. "Your boy over there can read minds."

"He's not my 'boy'! Don't speak of him that way in my presence!"

"Okay, right. He can tell you I'm on the level with you. Would that be okay?"

Hux rolled his eyes and shook his head. "You still have to address the fact that …" He shrugged helplessly. "I'm not even … I'm not … There isn't anything sexual there for me. Your offer is absurd on the face of it!"

"Oh!" Poe's brows rose and his voice softened. "Hey, no problem, buddy. It doesn't have to be that way. I just made a mistake on that, then. Someone as sharp-looking as you … but that's great. You know, a massage, card game, lunch, whatever you like to do. We can work it out."

"Why are you pursuing this bizarre inquiry at all? What possible motive could you have for a newfound personal interest in me? You mock me, sir!"

"No," Poe shook his head. "No, I don't. You know, I'd be lying if I said how hot you are wasn't a factor. I saw you in action yesterday and that really caught my attention. But like I said, it doesn't have to be sexual between us if that's not what you're into. We're supposed to be … allies, you know? That's what we've been talking about. I want to get to know you."

"In some intimate manner?" Hux sounded highly skeptical.

"You've never been with anyone, have you?" Poe bit his lower lip, looking terribly tempted. "Now I get it."

"It … why would you even ask? It's none of your business!" At least half the room was aware of the exchange, because Hux was alarmed and loud and Poe was shameless. Most had no idea how to take the display and pretended not to know it was happening.

"Of course, it isn't," Poe said. "But I want to know what I'm dealing with. You know, with Kylo and Rey getting together, maybe some sort of political alliance would help us all out."

"Now that is the first sensible thing you've said this entire, awkward conversation!"

"Really? How so?"

"A political alliance," Hux said. "That at least makes sense. But not actual feelings for one another. That's puerile!"

Kylo came over, a plate in one hand and a drink in the other. He looked between the two of them, then jogged his head towards the food. "Were you going to eat, Grand Marshal?"

"I don't know. It depends on if this cretin stops turning my stomach with his vile suggestions on how we can spend our time together!"

Kylo looked to Poe, who said, "I'm asking him out on a date. He's a tough man to please."

"Impossible, I've found." Kylo shook his head sadly. "He still hates me."

"I will always hate you," Hux said. He sounded like he meant it. "I wouldn't go out on a date with you either!"

Kylo sniffed, which was just a little over the top to give away the game. "I guess I'll have to go eat alone with Rey, then," he said with the pretense of hurt feelings. He turned and began to wander off.

"Wait, Ren!" Kylo turned back at Hux's call. "This Resistance general has generously invited you to read his mind."

"Oh." Kylo looked between the two of them. "Right now?"

"Yes," Hux said.

Poe blanched a little, swallowed, and braced himself. "Give it all you've got, Benny."

Kylo frowned at Poe's mutilation of his name and looked to Hux. "Am I looking for anything specific?"

"Why he's been harassing me for the last several minutes." Then he added, "For a start!"

Rey came up next to them, also with a plate. Consensual uses of the Force like this hadn't been addressed in the ground rules, but everyone had seen Poe agree to this. She set her drink down on the table next to them and watched the interplay. She wasn't surprised. She'd known what Poe was going to do. Most of the Resistance knew, but Poe had staunchly discouraged them from forming a betting pool regarding Hux's response.

Kylo looked intently at Poe, who flinched and then snarled a little in response to the mental pressure, regardless of how willing it was this time around. The general moved his head back and forth as though trying to find a less uncomfortable place for it to be. It didn't help. He looked like he was abruptly suffering from a migraine.

"Hm," Kylo said.

Poe's brows drew together sharply. He grimaced, winced, and grunted. "Does it have to hurt this much?"

"You called me Benny," Kylo explained, deadpan. Hux smirked. Ren blinked as though finished and looked to Hux for a long, thoughtful moment. Poe visibly relaxed and rubbed at his face.

"Well?" Hux asked.

"To my surprise … his intentions are basically honorable. You'll be safe."

"Safe?" Hux's voice rose in alarm. "That implies I'm going to do something! I have not agreed to do anything!"

"It's up to you," Kylo said, acting unconcerned.

"Hey," Poe interjected. "You have to eat, man. Eat with me. Now. We'll just sit and talk in a public place. No pressure. Okay?" Hux blinked at him warily. Poe gestured at Kylo, "He said I wasn't joking. No joke, no prank. Just talk. You First Order guys are so super uptight. Let me get to know you. I'm practically begging here."

"Your complete lack of dignity has not gone unnoticed," Hux said with a hesitant sneer, but there was a tone to it like that might be something he'd like to hear more of.

Kylo wandered away to the table he and Rey had already picked out. Rey lingered behind, interested to see if Poe was going to get this to work. Hux's defenses were finally starting to crack. The whole thing had been such a weird and zany idea when Poe had floated it that morning. She was glad Kylo had allowed it, because surely he'd seen what Poe was aiming at when he'd read his mind. But then again, 'honorable intentions' was about right.

"Oh yeah," Poe smiled slyly, starting to figure Hux out a little bit. "I can be undignified if that's what turns your crank. But you know that." Hux's gaze went up and down Poe in a very quick flit that you wouldn't have noticed unless you were looking at his eyes right that second. As Poe was doing. Poe nodded. "Let's get something to eat. Okay?" He waved towards the hors d'oeuvres table.

With great reluctance, Hux slowly moved to the table and picked up an empty plate. Poe followed, asking conversationally, "So, what kind of food do you like?"

Rey collected her drink and went over to join Kylo, leaving Poe and Hux to their 'date'.

Once they were both seated, Ben told her, "I'm not that familiar with politics, but that seems like a unique approach that your general is making. He really … means it."

"This morning when we were talking, someone said we were getting in bed with the First Order and … Poe decided to take it literally."

Ben chuckled. "If he gets Hux in bed, I'll be wondering if Poe's the one with Jedi mind tricks."

"Is there even any chance of that? From I could hear, Hux wasn't into anyone."

Ben shrugged like it didn't matter, but his voice shifted to the softer tone he used when he was vulnerable. "We were not in a situation where that was even an option." Ben frowned and toyed with his food. "Before, with Snoke, the slightest attachment, even a passing thing, wasn't allowed. Snoke wanted me to kill you because you would have distracted me from him, just like he wanted me to destroy everything else that had meaning to me from my past. Hux had even less privacy than the rest of us. Snoke knew his every thought, nearly every day. There were never any long missions away for him like I had with the Knights of Ren. He was a tool. Not a person."

"Is that sexual, or just … anything?" Rey asked, concern on her features. She wasn't asking about Hux here. She wanted to know what Ben had gone through.

"It was everything," Ben said, studying a mollusk that had grated purplish something on top of it. He had hunched down a little. It took him a while to look at her and when he did, he didn't lift his head. He just rolled his eyes up at her. He kept a very defensive posture.

Rey reached out her hand and put it over Ben's. "The past doesn't die just because we want it to. That's okay. Just let me know if I need to get relationship advice from Poe."

Ben smiled and relaxed a little. "When you feel the time is right, you won't need to make a public scene."


	16. Light Seduction

_Day 7_

"You're dismissed," Hux said curtly, ordering away the troopers who had been left to guard their shuttle. The two helmeted soldiers gave Poe a long, typically unreadable helmet stare before heading outside. Poe wondered where they were going to go, but assumed there was some standing protocol. They didn't ask and Hux didn't say. He just shut and locked the shuttle door after they were gone.

Hux pulled a lever to fold out a couch into a bed. It was intended for medical use or any other time the shuttle occupants needed a padded area to lie down. It would serve for their purposes. Poe couldn't stop himself from going to the cockpit. He leaned over the pilot's seat, looking at the instrumentation. He'd never flown this particular model, but the layouts between First Order and Resistance vessels were virtually identical. They were, after all, built by the same people (as the Resistance had lately been discussing).

Hux joined him, moving past to flip a switch and polarize the windshield. Everything outside took on a bronzed hue. They could still see out, but Poe knew anyone trying to look inside would just see solid black. Hux turned back and Poe took a step to the side, directly in front of him. Hux stiffened. His face twitched.

"You worried about anything in particular?" Poe asked softly. He raised his hands and put them on Hux's lower chest, in the middle of his torso. It was a fairly neutral area. Several parts of the man's body jerked but he didn't move away. His breathing was shallow, Poe noted. As he left his hands there, he realized Hux was trembling.

"Just what you might say later."

"About this?"

"About what happens in here, yes," Hux said. "I can deny whatever I want, but no one will believe me. Not with the screens blacked out."

"I won't say anything. I'm not doing this for bragging rights."

"Then why  _are_  you doing it?"

Poe slid his hands up a few inches. Hux took a step back, regarding him cautiously. Poe let his hands go to his sides. "The reasons I said. I look at Rey and Ben. I see what they're accomplishing, putting aside their differences, giving each other a chance. That's the way to peace. To no more war. Maybe it starts with two people, but it's not going to succeed if it's only those two. It has to be all of us."

"That seems like," Hux paused, then stepped back closer, "a little more dedication than I would expect of a rebel." He reached up and touched Poe's chin with his gloved hand. It was not an intimate touch, or at least it wasn't sensitive. He touched Poe's face the way someone would take your pulse. Poe stood relaxed and let him do it anyway.

When Poe didn't react, Hux looked over his face impassively. His thumb rubbed upward, traveling over the curve of chin to the bottom of Poe's lower lip, then back down.

"Sometimes you gotta try new things," Poe said quietly. "The old ways seemed to be getting a lot of people dead."

"Perhaps," Hux allowed. He guided Poe out of the way, moving past him out of the cockpit. "You offered a massage?"

"Yeah." Poe moved next the bed as Hux began to take off his gloves. "Do you have any oil?"

"No. I'm sure the medical cabinet has lubricant and the repair drawer has mechanical oil, but nothing suitable for what you're asking."

"Lubricant, huh?" Poe raised his brows at the mention.

Hux was obviously still very tightly wound, because he immediately snapped. "You have no need for that! Nothing like that will happen!"

"Whoa, easy," Poe said, putting his hands up. "I got it. I heard you earlier. Nothing sexual." He swallowed and waited while Hux took a few breaths to calm down from a moment of near hysteria.

A brief snarl passed over Hux's face, then he returned to taking off his jacket. His undershirt followed. He wore a knife scabbard on his right arm, which he left on. After a long look at Poe, he climbed on the bed and lay face down. He managed to look poised to bolt, which was hard to do while lying down, but he managed it.

"You have nice skin," Poe said, looking over the man's back. He'd said it automatically, but now that he looked … Hux's back was littered with yellow and green faded bruises – shoulders, spine, mid-back, and one side where it disappeared under his pants. "Oh, uh, these still hurt?" The age of the marks lined up with the conflict near Crait.

"What is it?"

Well, Hux couldn't see his own back. "You're bruised up," Poe explained.

"Ah. Yes. I never got around to treating those like I did the ones on my throat. Just don't press hard."

"Is this from the  _Raddus_  hitting the  _Supremacy_?" Poe skimmed his fingers along the surface of his back.

"No," Hux said. He shivered at the touch. "Snoke vented his frustrations by abusing his subordinates when they displeased him, which was frequently. Kylo Ren initially ascribed to the same, but limited himself to physical assaults and destroying things instead of people. He hasn't done more than threaten me in the last few days, though. I don't know if that will hold."

Poe blinked slowly, though Hux couldn't see it. "These are from your superior officers?"

"Yes." Hux glanced over his shoulder at him.

"You don't even sound embarrassed about that." He stroked more firmly with his palms, up and down Hux's spine and going lighter in the bruised spots.

"What is there to be embarrassed about? It's not from my inferiors. Most of it happens publicly anyway. It's a hazard of working with Force-users. Though I'm generally undecided if I'd rather the beating or the mind rack."

"No wonder you hate the Force." Poe's voice was hollow as he was imagining trying to do one's job while being treated like that. It was a wonder the First Order had generally good morale.

"Maker, yes," Hux said vehemently. "I could do without the Force. You don't have these problems with Rey?"

Poe blinked again in surprise, trying to imagine Rey 'abusing' anyone, especially someone who worked for her and to this extent. He failed. It was too difficult to imagine, and he'd been ground zero for her blow-up at Finn when she had not so much as raised a hand to him. "No. I got slapped once by General Organa, but she's small and it wasn't hard. I deserved it, too. I've never been … beaten black and blue by my superiors. That doesn't happen in the Resistance. At all. Is that why you carry a knife?"

"A knife would be useless against Snoke or Kylo Ren. They'd have me gut myself with it and I'm not that stupid. There are plenty of others in the First Order I might need it for. Officer corps adheres to something of a 'survival of the fittest' mentality."

Poe could hear some relaxation creeping into Hux's voice. "Wow. Okay," Poe said weakly. "You guys … you guys are some pretty hard bastards."

"What?" Hux jerked his to the side, looking back with his brows drawn together angrily.

"It's a compliment. Sincerely."

"Strange compliment. I don't like that word." Hux huffed, but put his head back down. Poe hitched his hip onto the bed, moving Hux's right arm so it hooked over Poe's left thigh. Poe put his hand on the back of Hux's neck and began to rub with strong, probing fingers. He didn't see any bruises there. His other hand he braced on Hux's nearer shoulder. "Uhhn," Hux groaned, letting his head loll as he finally started to relax. Hux's hand began to explore the crook of Poe's knee and the back of his calf.

"Yeah, I know," Poe sighed. "I've seen your file. But I wasn't thinking about that when I said it."

"You've seen my file? My First Order personnel file? That's confidential."

"You guys leak information like a sieve leaks water. The Resistance knows whatever it wants. Being able to do something about it is different." Hux grunted. Poe moved his touch up to the back of the grand marshal's perfectly coifed hair. "This okay?"

"Yes," Hux said lazily. "We're staying a few days. I brought product and tools. I can style it again later."

Poe sank his fingers through the hair, thoroughly mussing it. He grinned as he did it. He might not brag about this later, but he would never be able to look at Hux's hair again without remembering this. Or the pleased, sensual sound Hux made when he did it. Air puffed out between slack lips. The man's eyes fluttered, though whether it was for effect or genuine, Poe couldn't tell.

Still, Hux felt like putty in his hands. Poe asked, "Most of what's going on in the negotiation sounds pretty straight-forward. Are we missing anything important?"

"Absolutely critical." Hux sounded completely out of it. He moaned as Poe made a slow fist in his hair and released it.

"What would that be?"

"Restricted. Mmmm."

"What do you mean, 'restricted'?"

"I mean I can't tell you. I'd have to talk to Ren first." The words were slurred a little, but understandable.

Poe made another slow fist. Hux made that noise again and shifted his feet and hips. It was a thoroughly sexual sound. "If you did talk to Kylo and he was okay with it," Poe said, his voice a low purr, "what would you be able to tell me?"

"Mmm." Hux panted softly. He looked a little flushed. He rolled an eye back towards Poe and smirked. "Your interrogation technique is superb, but I'm not keen on committing treason."

Poe leaned forward, putting his lips near the man's ear. "That's too bad," he whispered. He gave him a peck on the ear.

Hux twitched back, tensing. "No." His voice was clear – no slurring now.

"Okay, okay," Poe said softly in a soothing tone. "No kissing. Got it." He pulled back and touched lightly at Hux's hair. "But you like this, right? Can I do that again?"

It accomplished what Poe hoped. Hux rolled his eyes in surrender and slumped down. "Yes."

"Yeah," Poe drawled as Hux made a quieter version of his earlier noises. "I just want to make you feel good. Tell me whatever you want to tell me. That's how we do it in the Resistance. It's all up to you." Hux gripped and rubbed fitfully at the underside of Poe's thigh. Poe didn't think the man had any idea how to give pleasure to someone else and had definitely never had anyone give it to him. "Does the First Order use pleasure houses?"

Hux snorted. "No. Oooh!" Poe lifted his head with the latest handful of hair, slowly rolling the man's head back and forth. Poe smirked a little. He had Hux panting and flushed again. Kylo Ren was dead wrong. Hux was a very easy man to please. Hux added, "I suppose some of the officers with planetary assignments might. Why?"

"I was just wondering. You guys need to learn to relax a little. Like this." He lowered Hux's head and moved back to petting his back for a change of pace.

"Mmf. And people say the dark side is seductive."

Poe chuckled. Hux rolled on his side and regarded Poe with what were clearly bedroom eyes.

Poe returned the look. "What do you do for a good time, Hux?" he purred. "Can I call you Armitage?"

Hux didn't answer about his name. "I work out. Combat training. I wasn't lying earlier. I really am happily married to my work. I usually work two shifts a day. It doesn't leave much time for idleness."

"Like this?"

"Yes, I like this."

Poe smiled at Hux's deliberate mis-phrasing. Hux sat up and then stood. He rolled his shoulders and stretched. Poe watched him. He really was a skinny little man. Or rather, skinny tall man. Even though he was a hand-width or two taller, Poe figured he outweighed the grand marshal. He hadn't looked quite that thin when he was dressed. "What kind of combat training?"

"Blasters, mostly. I'm not built for hand-to-hand although of course I do the usual drills. Long distance running, aerobics." He looked distant for a moment. "It's the only time I can turn my mind off." Then he shifted his attention to Poe, moving next to where he still sat on the bed. Hux touched Poe's hair, fleetingly, rubbing a few locks between his bare fingertips. He touched Poe's cheek where it was slightly bristled. He met his eyes searchingly, curious. Poe let himself be checked out.

"Can you answer a question for me?" Poe asked when Hux moved on and began to dress again. The examination was over. Hux gave him a receptive expression, then pulled on his undershirt. Poe went on, "Whose idea was it to destroy the Hosnian system?"

"I picked the target; I gave the order," Hux said without pause, although he clearly knew the import of the answer. He picked up his shirt and shrugged into it, working the buttons. "It was Snoke who set the strategy and authorized it. I have much the same relationship with Kylo Ren. He decides what he wants done and I tell him how it is to be accomplished. Like this trip." Hux waved around him. "Ren wanted to come alone, in and out, with his tryst and the visit. But a system like Naboo has far too much security and too chummy a relationship with the Resistance for that to be wise. We discussed it and he allowed a radical shift in the mission, so long as he still got what he wanted out of it."

"Does he always agree with you?"

"No." Hux chuckled. "But so far he has  _listened_ , which I appreciate." He picked up his jacket, then paused. "Is there anything I should be doing for you in this? I don't know … what's appropriate."

Poe shook his head. "We're good. This was exactly what I wanted. Just to get to know you a little. Get on better terms. Did you enjoy it?"

"That was the most pleasurable experience in my life," Hux said, then amended, "Adult life."

"Yeah? What'd you do as a kid that was better?"

Hux's face took on a far-away look as he fastened the many small clasps that gave his jacket the form-fitting cut that it had. "Ice cream. Simple strawberry. Five gallons of it."

"Really?" Poe tilted his head, noticing that jacket made Hux a couple inches wider across the shoulders. It was deceptively tailored to make him look more physically impressive than he was.

"Oh yes. The summer had been so hot. The nerfs, disgusting. We stole it. And we got away with it." Hux said wistfully. "That was the best part."

"Nerfs?" Poe said in surprise, looking Hux up and down. "You were a nerf herder?" The man was pulling on his gloves in a fastidious way. He looked and acted like such a dandy. An overdone dandy, Poe suddenly realized. Armitage Hux was such a caricature of a man born to power because he was an imposter. That was why being called a bastard stung him so deeply: it was true, but he pretended to be legitimate … 'better', superior to everyone else. Poe really had seen Hux's file, but it had only bare biographical details and his professional life – nothing about his childhood or the status in which he'd grown up. Poe had assumed Brendol Hux's son had grown up in privilege. He suspected now that he had assumed wrong.

Hux gave him a cautious, sidelong glance. "Nerf herding is good practice for leading men, as cats tend not to be economically viable, nor as destructive and dangerous as an angry nerf."

"No, that's cool, man. I just … couldn't see it for a moment. Did you eat that much ice cream all at once?"

"Most of it. I wasn't alone. We were always on short rations anyway. It encourages improvisation. And theft." Hux snorted at his father's training methods. He went to the door.

"Hold!" There was a clipped tone to Poe's voice that demanded attention. Hux hesitated with his hand over the entry pad. He looked back, obviously not appreciating being addressed that way. But he did wait.

"I would love for you to go outside looking like that," Poe chuckled with a rueful shake of his head. "But you would never trust me again."

Hux frowned and looked over his immaculate uniform. Then his eyes widened and his hands flew to his hair, which was in utter disarray. "Ah! Yes. Maker." Hux left the area of the door and opened a cabinet further in. After retrieving supplies and converting a view screen to a mirrored setting, he went about returning his hair to its usual perfect condition. "You're right," Hux murmured. "I wouldn't trust you after that. The whole thing would have looked like an elaborate setup to poke fun at me again."

Poe walked over behind him, watching the process. Hux was really obsessed with his hair. Poe hardly did anything to his, so it was odd to see someone make such a production of having every hair in place. He reached up on a whim and toyed with the nape of Hux's neck, stirring the fine hairs but leaving the rest undisturbed. To his delight, Hux let him. The man gave a shiver and went right on applying hair gel and working around the interference. Poe told him, "I'll poke fun at you some other time. But not about this. Okay?"

"I don't appreciate being laughed at about anything. I get it enough as it is." He put his supplies away and snapped the mirror off after a final review.

"We're only laughing at you because we can't get away with shooting your pompous ass. You know that, right?" Poe said it so warmly that it came across as affectionate instead of insulting.

Hux pursed his lips and gave him a scolding look, but no more. "Are we ready?"

"I've been ready all along. Sure. Let's go see what the others are up to." They headed out.


	17. After Dinner Mince

_Day 7_

After they left the shuttle, Poe tagged along uninvited as Hux as he made the rounds of the other three shuttles. Hux considered telling the general to wait or go on alone, but it didn't seem necessary. All the rebel got to do was listen to 'status normal' reports from each shuttle and a little small talk.

On the way back, Hux inquired about Poe's history as a pilot. That led to a discussion of ships which led to discussion of deployment of same. By the time they made it back to the board rooms for the negotiations, Poe was confirming for Hux that the recent uptick in piracy really was the serious problem for civilian shipping lanes that Hux had been told.

He sauntered in, fairly relaxed even though he knew the appearance of this sort of fraternization would provoke speculation. That had become a given after Poe's very public approach, whether he did it or not. Hux had eventually decided it was easier to go along with than argue. (Well, that and he wanted to work out what Poe truly wanted.) He knew that now, more or less.

There was nothing formal going on for the negotiations at the moment. Things were over for the day. People were sitting around in small groups, engaging in casual conversation that was probably more productive than the entire afternoon. Hux headed toward the table that had Kylo Ren at it. It also featured Rey, Finn, Kaydel, and two of his own staff, the customarily thick-set Sirpan native Brumos Fuseb and short, fastidious Eddiva Birnham from Lothal.

Brumos, so broad and muscled that he was almost inhuman, had been Snoke's primary aide and now served the same role for Ren. Eddiva was Hux's own chief foreign advisor, an expert on interplanetary diplomacy and trade and a woman whose skills filled many gaps in Hux's own. Hux took a seat between the two staffers. Poe stood behind an empty chair between Finn and Rey, not ready to sit just yet.

Hux had no more seated himself than he felt the touch of mind-reading. A glance over showed Kylo looking down with a distant expression.  _It went well,_  Hux thought clearly.  _He wanted to pump me for information and not in a sexual manner (well, I don't know whether he had any genuine interest in that, but he didn't get it in any account). He wanted to know about my background and_ -

Ren probed deeper, pulling up images and sensations from the encounter. Hux blinked a few times and tried to help the process as he waited while the supreme leader satisfied his curiosity, verified that Hux was telling the truth, or whatever reason he had for doing more than a surface scan. Even though it was the first time Ren had taken the liberty of going further, Hux knew he wasn't going to get very involved – not in this sort of setting.

Rey furrowed her brows and looked at Ben. "You're using the Force."

"What?" Ben blinked and looked up, obviously surprised to be called on it. Hux felt the probe end with the interruption. There were only so many ways Ren could split his attention.

"I'm not saying it's wrong," Rey said. "I just wondered what you were doing."

"I was reading his mind." Ben gestured at Hux, whose expression did not change. Eddiva, next to the grand marshal, straightened and leaned back as though she did not want to be part of having her mind read and just being in the line of fire was problematic. She looked between the two with a guarded expression. Brumos was more placid about the declaration. He'd worked for Snoke for several years.

"Right now?" Poe said with a single bark of laughter. "As soon as he walks in the room? Do you do that all the time?" Ben's expression didn't change, nor did he answer. Poe looked to Hux. "Doesn't that hurt?"

"He's careful and I cooperate," Hux said pricklishly.

"I notice you didn't answer the question," Poe said. He looked between the two of them like they'd been doing something improper – mostly Kylo Ren.

"The supreme leader may do as he wishes," Hux said, repeating what he'd said to Ren just the day before. He hoped the guy would drop it. "General," Hux mentioned Poe's rank so maybe it would occur to him that Hux's job included allowing this. Poe gave him a long, level look. Everyone else around the table was also silently looking at them and one another. Hux colored slightly. This was embarrassing. He was pretty sure he knew what was going on in Poe's head. "Your concern is charming. If it is genuine, then please know that I will not benefit from your misplaced attempt at protection."

"Fine," Poe said, pulling out the chair and sitting down. He leaned forward. "Tell me how you cooperate."

"I beg your pardon?"

Poe jerked a thumb at Kylo. "Every time he's done that to me, it gives me a migraine. What do you do different?"

Hux looked at Kylo Ren, who met his eyes for a moment and then looked at Rey.

"I'd like to know, too," Rey said.

Ren gave Hux a subdued nod, so he turned to Poe and answered. "Think clearly and project, as though you are on the cusp of speaking aloud. Keep your focus continually on whatever you want them to hear. Know that thinking about something you're trying to conceal only draws attention to it. I find it easiest to simply hide nothing, but according to Snoke, this is a rare talent."

Kylo snorted. When people looked at him, he gave a nod and said, "It is." He looked over at Poe. "Most people fight reflexively if they detect it, like you do. That's why it hurts."

"It hurts," Hux said to Ren, "because you don't tend to stop until you get what you want." He turned to Poe. "If you deny him, he'll simply keep digging. It costs him very little and as you know, it is exhausting to resist. Give him what he wants immediately. If you feel his mind focusing on something, then think more about it. Remember it. Go through details. If you're the one bringing the information up in your mind, then it's painless. If you make him do it, then he's clumsy."

"I'm not clumsy," Ren said defensively.

"How would you know?" Hux said back. "You can't read your own mind. You're clumsier than Snoke was." It was a simple fact.

"Snoke-" Ren's mouth hung open for a second, then he shut it. He was quiet.

Hux spoke. "He was silk and velvet when he wanted to be, and when he did not …"

Ren stared at him with a fixed, momentarily dull set to his gaze. "I know."

"Exactly." That was what had broke Hux. And from Ren's response, he had confirmation the same had happened to Kylo Ren. He'd always wondered. As awful as it was, he felt vindicated that their mistreatment had been somewhat fair.

An uncomfortable silence threatened to settle, but Poe dispelled it. "I noticed a few times today that you guys spoke like you were having a telepathic conversation. Is that going on?"

"No," Hux said simultaneously with Ren saying, "Yes."

"Oh." Poe smiled and nodded. "Okay. Got it."

Hux gazed evenly at Ren, putting the ball in his court. Ren said finally, "You asked earlier if I read his mind all the time. I do frequently. It's convenient. He can sense it, so when he does, he responds to me as he described – he says whatever he thinks I need to hear. But I don't speak in his mind."

"That's possible, though, isn't it?" Rey asked.

Ben nodded. "It is."

"Why don't you do that?" Poe asked.

"He didn't like it," Ren said.

"Why does that matter?" Poe asked with false innocence. Kylo Ren gave him nothing – just looked at him blankly. Poe turned to Hux. "Why doesn't he do that? That sounds like it would be even more useful, like private comms on all the time."

"I don't know," Hux said very quietly, looking away. He leaned back. He wasn't telling the truth, but Poe didn't have a right to Hux's honesty. Ren had desisted out of … respect? Consideration? The exact motive was unclear, but he hadn't continued to speak telepathically to him because Hux had disliked it, which was a marvelous thing. Hux was uncomfortable with Poe putting this much attention on it.

Kylo Ren's body language shifted dramatically. He straightened in his seat and moved to the front of it, head held high and shoulders back. Something beyond just the movement caught everyone's attention. "That's all we're going to say on the subject." He turned to Rey, next to him. "If you want me to show you, I can. You'd need a volunteer from your side."

Hux breathed out slowly, relaxing as he realized Ren was being protective. And also, not volunteering him. He hadn't even thought that was something he needed to be concerned about, or even a possibility, until Ren ruled it out. It would be tactically unwise anyway, just as it had been earlier for Poe to willingly allow Ren into his head. There was nothing keeping Ren from plucking out whatever information he wanted while he was in there. Poe was unlikely to be able to tell what exactly Ren was taking.

"I can do it," Poe said immediately.

"I can do it on you," Rey said to Ren.

"No," Hux said with an 'over my dead body' emphasis that no one missed. "The supreme leader does not need his mind read by the enemy! Use one of your own people, as he directed."

Ren smiled softly at Hux, then looked to Rey and made a small shake of his head. "It won't work the same between you and I as it does with others anyway."

Rey nodded and looked to Poe. He moved his chair out and turned it to face her. "Okay," Poe said. "What do I do?"

"What he said earlier," Ren said, gesturing at Hux. To Rey, he said, "Start very light. Do you remember what I did on Takodana?"

"Some," she said, looking intently at Poe.

He flinched and raised his hands to ward off an invisible blow. "Whoa, hey!"

"Light," Ren said. "Light. No, never mind. Bad advice. Start with nothing at all."

"How do I start with nothing at all?" Rey asked, perplexed.

"By starting with nothing at all," Ben said. "Look at him. Do nothing."

Rey blinked and did so. Poe looked between Ben, Hux, and then Rey with some trepidation. He put his hands down.

"Now become aware of him," Ren said. "No scanning. No listening. Just be aware. Shut your eyes. Feel his presence."

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Poe looked between her and Ren.

"Do you feel him?" Ben asked.

"Yes," Rey answered.

"Imagine that he's about to whisper in your ear. It's quiet. You'll hear him easily. He's not very loud, though. Listen … just the small amount you'd need to hear him speaking directly to you."

"Sounds kind of intimate," Poe said.

"It is," Ren agreed. Poe made a face.

"Oh," Rey said, obviously sensing something.

"Wait." Poe stiffened and looked around.

"That's her," Hux said. "It's a feeling of danger, of someone watching you, eavesdropping. A pressure."

"Makes me nervous," Poe observed.

"Yes," Hux said. "It's invasive no matter how lightly it's done, assuming you notice it. You do now because you're very focused and you know it's coming. But they can read your mind casually while you're distracted and you might never know. I suppose that's kinder. There's no apprehension at least. But they take the information they want anyway. All of this assumes they don't couple it with other powers."

Ben said to Rey, "Do you see it?"

She nodded. "Yes. I can … hear everything he's thinking." She smiled a moment later, then held up three fingers to Poe, who smiled back.

"That's creepy," Finn said, his first contribution to the discussion.

Hux gave an evil smile, "Now, it's most important that you don't think about the worst possible thing she could know about you."

Poe looked over at him blankly.

"No!" Rey sat up. "I will not be tricked into that."

Poe laughed. "Yeah, because that's exactly where my mind's going to go when you say that."

Hux gave him a shameless grin that was partly a baring of teeth.

"Lucky for me, I don't have anything to hide," Poe joked.

Rey shook her head anyway. "I ended it as soon as he said that. I didn't see anything."

"You should practice a few times a day," Ben said. "On him, on anyone ..." He glanced over at Hux and then back to Rey with a smile. "If we can get away from my chaperone, me, just so we see the difference with another Force user."

"Really, Ren," Hux said with a sardonic tilt to his head. "You make me regret letting you out of my sight for even the bare hour I was away."

Kylo grinned easily. "Oh, yes. Brumos can tell you I decided to give Finn one of our dreadnoughts in lieu of back pay while you weren't around."

Hux and Finn both snorted at how ridiculous that was. Brumos gave his head a little shake, as though concerned someone might have taken that seriously.

"Really?" Finn asked. "Which one? I might want to collect on that. Does it come with crew?"

"The  _Fulminatrix_. I believe your general there oversaw final delivery to your base on D'Qar."

"The  _Fulmin-_ " Finn looked at Poe. "That's the one you bombed, right?"

"Yeah," Poe said. "Some assembly required."

"I don't think that one's worth anything," Finn said.

"Neither is your back pay," Ren said.

"Supreme leader, should we be getting back to the shuttles for the evening?" Hux prompted.

Ben touched Rey's forearm with his fingertips. She looked up at him and smiled warmly. They stared at each other for a long moment. Hux rolled his eyes and waited. Then Kylo stood and a second later, the three other members of the First Order stood as well. They gave their good-byes and headed back to the shuttles for the night.


	18. Report

_Day 7_

"Maker!" Finn exclaimed after the First Order group had headed off for the night. "What did you do to him? I have never seen Hux so … laid back and helpful. And he had a sense of humor! He wasn't even walking like he normally does."

"Oh no!" Poe said, not only shaking his head, but scissoring his hands back and forth over this hips in a negative motion. "We did nothing like that. I was entirely dressed. He only took his shirt off. That was it."

"Yeah, but he acted so chill," Finn marveled. He laughed. "Did you get him to try euphorics or something?"

"No, no. Just talked, mostly. A little more, but not much." Poe chuckled sadly. "I know you know this, Finn, but I really didn't have an understanding for how big a stick the First Order has stuck up the aft. For what little I did to have been the best thing that's happened to him other than ice cream? I should be flattered, but that's just sad."

Poe turned to Rey. "For example, he takes it as a given that you're a walking disaster area because you're a Force-user. Like the mind-reading thing earlier. He thinks that's normal. Routine. He didn't know why we thought that was strange that Ren just did that. You could see it on his face. When we were alone, he took his shirt off and … he had the crap beat out of him last week."

"Because of Crait?" Rey asked.

"I don't know. He said Kylo Ren had laid off him for the last few days, which …" Poe grimaced and continued, "that he thinks a break of a few days between floggings is note-worthy is  _weird_. And Hux is the one who gets in trouble if we try to call Ren on it?" He rolled his eyes and shook his head at how much of a red flag that was. "Anyway, as far as a mission goes, it was a complete success. My instinct was right: we're missing something big. He said as much, but he wouldn't tell me what it was."

"Any hints?" Finn asked.

"Just that it's absolutely critical. That's what he said. Or maybe he said 'something critical'. I think that was it. But from the way he sounded," Poe paused while he remembered that period exactly. He chuckled. "Well, he sounded like he was having a really good time," he said in a tone that left no doubt about what sort of good time Hux was having. "But I got the impression it's like we're focusing on what one x-wing is doing and missing the point of the battle."

Poe chewed his lip. "I think we can work with him. He's more self-aware than I thought. He knows what's his fault. He knows what's not. I'm not saying he's not a viper, but I think a good argument can be made that Snoke was behind everything."

"Why's that important?" Finn asked. "The guy's a complete villain. Hux, I mean. Though, Snoke too, I suppose, but he's dead. I never had to see or deal with him, anyway."

Poe shrugged. "If we're trying to get a representative government together, then we need to be dealing with people who aren't morally depraved."

"He destroyed an entire star system!" Finn burst out. "He  _is_  morally depraved!"

"Yeah, he did," Poe agreed. "And he's not saying he didn't. He told me he was the one who gave the order. But it's really clear to me he'd be dead if he didn't do what Snoke told him to do." He tilted his head at Finn. "I know you walked out on them. That's heroism, Finn. A big deal. But if we're going to cut people down for following orders, then every stormtrooper out there has to die except for the lucky new ones that haven't done anything yet. That's just not going to work."

"'I was following orders' is not a defense," Finn insisted. "Starkiller Base killed billions of civilians. That's an atrocity. It's a genocide. I don't think we even have words strong enough for what that is!"

"So where do we draw the line? Is it at the technician who pushed the button with General Hux standing at his shoulder barking orders? Or is it at General Hux with Snoke breathing down his neck? Or is it at Snoke himself, because he's the guy who's going to do exactly what Rey and Kylo Ren did to that ship captain when he tried to do something other than toe the line? He tried to do what you did, Finn. He tried to check out. But he wasn't some random stormtrooper. The supreme leader took aim at him and he's probably dead now, executed for treason. That's what happens when you don't follow orders and your leader is a Sith lord. Do you really think Hux or any of the others had a choice?"

Finn pursed his lips and didn't say anything.

"I met Snoke," Rey offered. "I don't think he was the sort to allow his subordinates anything close to free will. Ben said the mind-reading was daily and there were worse things that happened to them than beatings."

Poe nodded. "You saw a good example earlier, Finn. What chance does Hux have to defect if the moment he comes in the room, Kylo Ren's rifling through his thoughts? I didn't want that prick to know what Hux and I did, what we talked about. That was private! And trust me, from what little I know of Hux, he wouldn't have wanted that shared either. But he's beaten. There is no choice, no option. I'd love to say there was, but I coughed up where Luke Skywalker's map was to that guy!" Poe pointed in the direction the First Order people had departed. "Remember that?"

Finn frowned, but nodded.

"Do you remember how I looked? How bloody after the interrogation unit got done with me?"

Finn nodded again.

"You think I didn't fight them with everything I had?" Finn shook his head. Poe went on, "I don't know if any of them do their duty willingly or not. But one of those core principles Kylo Ren is asking for is a blanket amnesty. I don't really see how we can refuse it. How do we ethically hold people responsible for their actions when they've had someone like Snoke in charge? How do we tell what's their fault when they really, sometimes literally, physically, can't refuse or even  _think_  about refusing?" He pointed at the door. "That man who just walked out, who I was with earlier, strikes me as one of the strongest-willed people I've met. And he can't stop them. What chance does anyone else have?"

"I hear you," Finn said, "but some in the First Order are absolutely irredeemable. They just are. I know it. I've been there."

"Sure. Okay," Poe agreed. "Then if they are, they're going to keep committing crimes. We'll prosecute them for the ones they do after we get a treaty with them. That's the only way I think we can do this."

Finn rolled his eyes and looked annoyed, but accepted it. "Did you find out anything else?"

"Kylo Ren listens to his advice. That's important, because I think the guy's a warmonger who'd be happier with a military dictatorship than what we're trying to work out. The only way he got enough food as a kid was by stealing it. He's not going to have the same idea of fair that we do. That's going to impact everything that comes from him, and if he's got Kylo Ren's ear, then that can be really bad for us. That's why it was important for me to do this. There's no better intelligence-gathering than showing someone they can trust you."

Finn shook his head with an expression of denial. "Hey, it's fine. I didn't say what you did was wrong. I just thought it was a really strange way to …" He shrugged. "I mean, what if he'd wanted to do more?"

Poe rolled his eyes. "I doubt that guy touches himself unless he's urinating. There's no way he was he was going to want to do more. I could barely touch him without him flinching. Though I'll admit I wasn't sure that's how it would go until I was alone with him. The important thing is that I have a better idea now of where some of these First Order bastards are coming from."


	19. Full Disclosure

_Day 8_

Rey pulled Ben aside the next morning. "We need to talk. You, me, Poe, Hux, maybe a few others. People you trust to help make these negotiations work."

"Okay."

"Now," she clarified. "Over breakfast. We have a separate room set up." She pointed out the door to it. His eyes followed the gesture.

"I'll get the others."

They gathered – the same group that had been at the after-dinner table the night before. The First Order lined up on their side of the table. The Resistance leaders on the other. Poe started right in, looking at Hux instead of Ren. "Something's off. When you and I were alone, you said we were missing something big. Something critical. What is it?"

"As I said last night," Hux answered, "discussing that is up to him." He nodded his head at Kylo Ren.

Poe looked to Ren. "What is it?"

Kylo Ren merely looked at him with that blank, fathomless expression he used when he intended to give someone nothing.

"Ben," Rey said, "I want this to work. We can find better answers if we work together. We are here in good faith. I know you are, too, but you're hiding something."

Hux set himself to eating. Brumos and Eddiva followed his lead.

"You ask me this?" Ben said to Rey.

"Yes," she answered. "I've asked you before now. It's come up between us. I've noticed when you get evasive. This is important."

"Before this audience?" his voice was quieter.

"Yes."

Ben looked down at the table for a long time, staring at it sightlessly. Hux continued eating blithely.

Ren raised his head finally and looked at Rey as though no one else in the room existed. After a pursing of his lips and a grimace, he said, "A week ago, I offered you the galaxy, to rule at my side."

The heads of both Finn and Poe snapped to the side, looking at Rey. Kaydel kept her focus on Kylo Ren, but it was clear Rey hadn't shared that with anyone. The same was true on the other side. Brumos and Eddiva stopped eating. Hux continued, stabbing a vegetable square a bit more solidly than necessary.

Ben went on. "You refused me." His voice broke with a sudden, deep flash of emotion that brought all eyes back to him. Except Hux's. Hux was going to finish his damn breakfast before it got cold.

"In the time since that, I have tried to honor your decision. In order to honor you. You have chosen … them," Ben said, with the slightest motion of his fingers towards Poe and Finn, "over me. As I told you before, I would tear down the stars to have you. But you are not a thing to have. You make decisions and choices. It is not my place to judge them. You have firmly told me it is not my place, by rejecting me."

Rey was silent, eyes large, watching Ben metaphorically cut his heart out for her.

"But despite that rejection, you have still shown me compassion. You have supported me. You have helped me. You have protected me. You have shown me what it is to be a friend. How to trust. How to trust others. How to control my temper and how to apologize. You have made  _this_  possible," Ben gestured in the direction of the larger conference rooms for the negotiations, "at considerable risk to yourself and little reward. You knew the First Order wasn't going to give you anything.

"I say all of this so you will understand my reluctance in this. It does not come from fear or resentment. It comes from love. There are things I have not told you because it would be unfair to you if I did. For example, if we had another Starkiller, and I told you we were going to annihilate an entire system with it, what position would I have put you in? You would have to choose between keeping my trust or savings billions. That would be unfair to you. It would be wrong. You have shown me where your loyalties lie. It would be manipulative for me to require you to choose between being a traitor to them or to me.

"We don't have another Starkiller," Ben said.

"More's the pity," Hux added, sotto voce, still eating.

"That situation is hypothetical," Ben said, ignoring Hux. "But the information you're asking for is on the same scale. I can't un-tell you once you know. If you ask this of me once more, I will answer, because I am as a slave to you."

Hux's eyes narrowed and he looked between the two. Poe made a tiny noise, "Ssst," and when Hux looked at him, Poe made a quick shake of his head. Hux seemed to understand whatever message was being sent. He reclined slightly so he could nurse his tea, as he'd finished his food by now.

"You know what I want," Rey said.

Ben smiled softly. "That is true. I know you well enough to know that." He drew in a deep breath and looked at Hux. "Anything you want to say first?"

"Not that I haven't already said." Hux looked across to Poe. "This would be one of those subjects where he didn't do as I suggested. At all."

"Your suggestions were …" Ben shook his head and didn't finish.

"Militarily sound, Supreme Leader," Hux said quietly. "Militarily sound."

Ben rolled his eyes, but didn't disagree. He turned back to Rey and centered himself. "Very well. I have lost control of seven of our core worlds in the Unknown Regions. They have fallen to insurrection and riot. They are in a state of anarchy." He turned to Poe. "The recent rise in piracy and raiders is coming from there."

Back to Rey, he said, "As you have noted – factories manned by slaves are critical to our infrastructure. These worlds are vital to us. There is no easy way to re-establish control. There are no leaders for me to suborn or assassinate. There is no Resistance for me to negotiate with, pursue, or destroy. Losing the staff on Starkiller Base and the fatalities near Crait have stripped me of the resources I would need to do a large-scale occupation.

"My best solution is to bombard them, razing my own factories, killing my own people, until the problem becomes manageable. Without these worlds, the fleet will continue on for another month, perhaps two with reduced operational efficiency. Increased austerity programs on our other worlds will only set off a chain reaction of further unrest. If I return and depopulate the insurrectionist worlds, then it will still be a decade or more before we rebuild what we have lost and are back to our current level. During that time, you, the Resistance, the New Republic, will rebuild as well.

A sneering smile graced his lips. "And it will all have been for nothing. On and on. The cycle will continue." He sighed and was silent.

Rey's eyes were huge. It was Poe who finally said something. He leaned back. "You were playing a bluff. If we didn't know, then we give you what you want, bow down, grovel a bit, and you sneak back and deal with the problem in secret. By the time we figure out your back is broken, it's too late for us to do anything about it, or at least we'd be way behind the curve."

Kylo Ren gave Poe that same blank look. "But now you know."

"And now you're depending on our sense of honor not to do anything about it," Poe said.

"I depend on nothing. I have put you in this impossible situation. I expect betrayal."

Hux sipped his tea.

Rey said, "You didn't put us in an impossible situation. We put you in one. I did. By asking you to tell me when you knew you shouldn't. That was what was impossible – requiring you to either deny me or …" Rey shook her head slowly, "or hand over the fate of the First Order to us."

They were quiet for a moment, then Finn said, "Is that really your best solution? Go kill everyone?"

Ren shrugged. "There are others. I have been stalling on doing anything because there were other equally good ways to spend our resources, such as by pacifying the New Republic and prompting you towards some manner of self-governance that will minimize how much we have to come back and put on a show of force. I am also hoping that if left to their own devices, the rioters will evolve a political structure I can work with. The Force allows me to seduce individuals to our cause. Mobs are harder. Entire populaces are … beyond anything I've ever tried. But either way, I will be returning very soon to the worlds you knew as home. By blaster or dark side, I will bring them to heel."

"Would you let us help?" Rey asked.

Ben looked at her for a long moment. "How?"

"The Resistance knows how to motivate people, to lead them. If these worlds are in rebellion against the First Order, then I can only imagine they would be very happy to see us."

Hux peered at the bottom of his cup. It was empty now. He set it down and crossed his arms. Brumos and Eddiva were doing the same as Kaydel – remaining quiet and listening, but still very much present. As senior aides and staff members, they'd known about the depth of the problem.

"Give these planets to my enemies?" Ben asked. "Another problem is that the High Command has not acknowledged my legitimacy as supreme leader. Those within the armed forces are in line. But those in the Unknown Regions regard my appointment as temporary, yet to be confirmed. It's only been a week, we are in the middle of an active military campaign, and so a battlefield promotion is not going to be immediately contested. If I start giving away worlds, the remaining worlds, which are controlled by the High Command, will rebel instead, in a much more organized fashion."

"It didn't sound right because it's all hollow," Poe said.

"There has to be a better solution to this," Finn said.

"Yes, there is," Rey said. "We just have to keep looking. Can you give us details?"

Ren looked at Hux, who said too cheerily, "Oh, why not? Of course. Why don't you give them some of the more functional dreadnoughts as well, like you offered last night?"

"You have a plan for those."

Hux's upper lip twitched, but he gave Ren a quick look.

"Yes, I've been listening to you," Ren said. "You're here to keep me from doing anything stupid, remember?" Eddiva and Brumos looked sharply between the two highest ranking members of the First Order.

Hux floundered for a moment. "That's … hardly how I would admit to referring to the supreme leader in public …" he muttered.

"I know exactly what you think of me. That's why you're here. Get them the information. We have a safety net."

Hux gave Ren another level look.

Ren smirked. "Stay close to me and you'll find out. Why do you think I wasn't concerned about coming down here?"

Hux's brows rose slowly in disbelief.

"Get them the information," Ren said.


	20. Data Retrieval

_Day 8_

"Hey! Hold up," Poe called out, coming around the table as Hux left. "I'll come with you."

Hux gave him an angry look, then looked past him at Eddiva. But not at Ren, or Ren's employee, Brumos. Hux spun and stalked off without giving any signal to anyone as to what he wanted. So Eddiva stayed. Poe caught up and kept pace with him.

It was a fair distance to the shuttles. When they were about halfway, Poe judged the man had cooled off enough to talk. He said, "I can't imagine how rough the last few days have been for you."

"Two weeks," Hux said. "The last two weeks. It all started with Starkiller. That beautiful weapon was key to dominating our own planets as well as yours. With it gone, Snoke had to take to the field with the  _Supremacy_ to prove we were undaunted and committed at the highest levels to achieving our goals. It was another risk. However small, but it played out horrifically. Now we've lost both of them! We look weak."

"How are you handling that?" Poe asked.

Hux gave him a measured look. "Well enough. The situation sounds awful and it is, but we are far from finished. Ren carries on as though he actually believed things would go smoothly for him and it's a surprise that these difficulties have arisen. But things never go smoothly. Ever. We've recovered from worse."

"You looked pretty worked up when we left back there." Poe gestured back in the direction of the negotiations.

"I'm fine," Hux said with a flat tone.

"Uh-huh," Poe said. "Got your shields up again, then."

"What?"

Poe shrugged. "You're working really hard to hold this together. I can see that."

Hux snorted softly. "It would be easier if my superior officers behaved more rationally."

"Officers, plural?" Poe asked. "I thought no one outranked you but Kylo."

"Only one living. I meant Snoke and Kylo Ren both. I was only occasionally informed of what Snoke was attempting to accomplish and I had some difficulty in believing he was truthful in any case. But I obeyed anyway. Ren is as transparent as crystasteel and at odd moments, just as unyielding. He threatened to kill me the other day for an off-hand comment, but he endures the worst sort of verbal maligning with no more than a smirk. I am still finding my footing with him."

"You like him more than Snoke?"

Hux gave him a side-eye. "I never liked Snoke. He was not a likeable individual."

"Yeah," Poe said. "I'll bet." He noticed the lack of comment on Ren, but wasn't sure what that meant – did he like him and not want to admit to it, or did he dislike him and think it impolitic to discuss?

They walked the rest of the way in silence, Hux's long, agitated strides eating up ground and requiring Poe to hustle to keep up. They passed through security without a blip just like they had before, which although they probably weren't checking as closely on the way out as in, Poe knew the grand marshal was walking around armed all the time. Poe didn't make an issue of it because he wanted Hux's trust, but it bugged him. When he strode up the ramp into the command shuttle, Hux barked to the troops guarding it, "Get out! Wait outside."

As they had the night before, the troopers directed longer-than-necessary looks at Poe before doing as told. Hux didn't comment on the delay. He just stood with fists on hips, waiting until they filed out. Then he locked the door behind them. He looked at Poe and sighed, relaxing just slightly. "They do not need to see me committing high treason," Hux said.

"Yeah," Poe said. "Probably not good for their careers. Another one of those dilemmas like what Kylo just dropped on us."

Hux began accessing files and transferring the data to a portable device. "We should have returned to our core worlds immediately, snuffed them out, and cauterized the wound. We're still bleeding because he delays!"

"You know that's a tough decision," Poe said, leaning on the console so he could see Hux's face lit by the displays. "You made it for the Hosnian system. You really want to do that again? I suspect it was difficult, even in the First Order, to find someone willing to pull that trigger. It's understandable that he's kind of dragging his feet on doing the same to his own people."

"They're not his people!" Hux nearly spat the words. "They're mine! If anyone gets to make the decision, it should be me! He's a  _Skywalker_ ," Hux said the name with mockery, "who probably hasn't even set foot on those planets! They're all hypothetical to him. I was there! I was with the slave harvesting expeditions. Those are  _my_  people! Not his!" Poe had heard Hux could be maniacal, but he'd always assumed that was for show. Yet there was no one here to witness this but the Resistance general. Hux really was this bombastic.

"This is really personal for you," Poe said after a few seconds to think about what had to be motivating this vehemence.

"Yes!" Hux leaned on the console in front of him with both arms extended to support himself. "It is! Child training and programming was my specialty before the assignment to Starkiller. They are my children. I'm the only father some of them will ever know. When I went to Starkiller Base, it was to command my own men, people I had overseen for my entire adult life and all of theirs." Hux's voice shook. He straightened himself and tried to access additional files. "Those on Starkiller are all dead and now we must kill the rest." His hand was trembling too much to operate the controls, so he curled it into a fist instead.

Poe didn't say anything. He was still trying to process how 'my people' was meant not only in a sense of affiliation, but also possessively. Hux owned them, or felt he did. And at the same time, he felt truly paternal and racked with guilt that he was planning to kill them on the heels of losing the rest in war.

Leia's comment came back to him: 'At what cost?' Poe hadn't given much thought to the costs inflicted on the First Order – the number of dead, who might care about them, and what they'd feel pushed to do as a result. He had always before seen the First Order as fairly two-dimensional bad guys. The closer he looked, the more complicated this became. He didn't think he was done seeing the layers, either.

Hux's fist dropped to his side. He stood there silent and still, hardly even breathing. He looked like a droid powered off, eyes staring and vacant, head tilted down. After a few moments, Poe moved closer. He put his arm around Hux's narrow shoulders, the other around his front, and Poe planted his backside on the edge of the control panel in front of them. He held, patted a little, and waited. It took a minute, but Hux finally leaned into him somewhat.

"This changes nothing," Hux said stiffly.

"I know. You're too tough for that," Poe gave a warm, affectionate smile Hux couldn't see. He rubbed a small circle on the man's back. Poe Dameron was facing down an entire army and navy of these emotionally constipated idiots. It was preposterous, amusing, and warming to him to see it that way, because if he looked at it in any way that dehumanized these guys, it was terrifying. They weren't just willing to kill the Resistance, but their own people as well if necessary.

Their leader was in the middle of a messy emotional breakdown and was too repressed to process it in any way other than endorsing genocide or freezing up (and then probably endorsing genocide after he thawed out). Even though it was tempting to unleash the First Order on itself in some self-destructive fit like a snake eating its own tail … Poe had been listening too much to Rey reading the Jedi texts aloud to try blowing things up as a solution to this. Besides, Leia wouldn't approve. This was probably what she meant about saving people no one else was thinking of saving.

Poe gave him a light squeeze. He felt Hux sigh and lean against him more. "You're trying to do the right thing," Poe told him. "I see that. I know it. It might be hard to believe, but we're going to try to help you. None of us want to see them die."

"They've defied the First Order and fallen into gross insubordination. There is only one cure for that." But Hux was still leaning on him a little and breathing deeper like he was exhausted and only now letting himself feel it.

Poe stroked his fingertips down the nape of Hux's neck. The man positively slumped against him. "You know that amnesty Kylo suggested yesterday?" Poe asked. "Said it would be a requirement to any integration or new government that no war crimes be prosecuted against the First Order?"

"Yes." Hux turned in his loose embrace and touched Poe's sides with his gloved hands. His forehead was on Poe's shoulder.

"What if you tried to apply that to these guys?" Poe said. "We integrate them into the unified government and not the Resistance?"

Hux pulled away and regarded him. "We need their production to support the First Order military. Two of the planets primarily convert slaves into troops and we are severely depleted."

Gently, Poe suggested, "Raise troops from somewhere else. Like here on Naboo. Other planets. You're not going to need as many now that you've won. It's just a peace-keeping force now. Do you think you're still going to be harvesting slaves?"

"Perhaps," Hux said, extracting himself from Poe's arms and reaching around him to pull up the last files he wanted. Hux worked around Poe in unnecessary proximity without nudging him out of the way or moving away himself.

Poe pinched at the heavy fabric of the arm and then shoulder of Hux's jacket. It confirmed what he'd seen the day before about how it was made to appear – bigger than it looked. He reached up to touch the guy's neck. It earned him a brief, heavy-lidded look. In other contexts, it was a 'come hither' look, but Poe didn't think Hux consciously meant it that way. So he just smiled warmly at the grand marshal. "I think I like you. You're really interesting."

Hux gave him an embarrassed expression and colored noticeably. He tried to suppress a smile. His tightly pressed lips just made it look endearing and odd instead. Hux ejected the data card he'd created. "That's … that's nice. We should get back. We have a full day ahead of us."

"Yeah, we do," Poe said softly. This was not the way he thought he'd end up beating the First Order.


	21. Abdication Negation

_Day 8_

"Captain Peavey's status report was normal, sir," Eddiva Birnham informed Hux shortly after he returned. "Freighter traffic has increased back to normal levels after the lull following our arrival. I have a log."

"Let me see." He took the datapad from her and scrolled through the entries. None of the registries looked out of place. So he scrolled through them again. "With this many ships, we should be starting to see smugglers. Although Naboo is a fairly high-security operation. I want you to speak with their chief of port security about these just to be thorough. Make sure our scans and observations match up with their records."

"Yes sir," she answered.

"And tell Captain Peavey to have the  _Harbinger_  and the  _Conqueror_  begin a standard bracket patrol. Make sure we're not missing anything. Be on the lookout for cloaked vessels. The technology was worrisomely common even before our wayward core worlds started leaking ships across the galaxy."

"Yes sir," she repeated.

"The remaining ships are to stay at high alert." Hux returned the datapad to her. "Make sure you contact the Naboo chief of staff and inform them of the change to our deployments. Tell them it's a routine fleet security procedure. We wouldn't want them getting even more alarmed than they are over something trivial."

"Sir," Eddiva acknowledged and then asked, "Is there any action you want undertaken if we do uncover evidence of illegal activity?"

"No," Hux said with an annoyed frown. "Unless they're heavily armed, armored, traveling in a group, or doing something else distinctive that requires immediate action, just record their information and let them pass. It's a Naboo internal security matter for now. Until the negotiations are over, our policing authority here is ambiguous. We'll compile the information and pass it on to Naboo later as proof that we have something to offer in a civilian context.

"Oh," Hux added as Kylo Ren approached. "Don't shoot anything without checking with me first, no matter what they look like."

"Unless fired upon," Ren said.

"True," Hux said. "But even so I want to know about it immediately. Dismissed," he said to his junior officer, who set off to complete her duties. The grand marshal looked to Kylo Ren expectantly.

"Situation normal?" Ren asked.

Hux nodded, folding his hands behind himself. "The good citizens of Naboo are behaving themselves. At the end of a gun, but they are behaving. It's a start."

Ren nodded, falling into place next to his grand marshal. Hux waited, mind blank, anticipating the slight push of mind-reading that didn't happen. Together, they watched as the Resistance people dissected the information they'd been given – complete descriptions of the First Order core planets and the known current situations of each. Despite Poe Dameron's insistence that First Order records were easy to get, this was new to all of them but Finn. The former stormtrooper was walking them through the information. He'd spent time on most of the worlds, even if it was just a few weeks here and there.

After a while, Hux spoke. "I find myself in an uncertain situation concerning your attempted-betrothed."

"Yes?" Ren said.

"It would appear you continue to be smitten with her, despite what even you describe as an irrefutable rejection. Do I refer to her in the terms I would normally reserve for those of honorable romantic significance to my fellow officers, or do I refer to her as a rebel rubbish sorter who has declined the best thing that could have happened in her sorry life?"

Kylo Ren slowly turned to face Hux. "Rubbish … sorter?"

"It's one or the other." Hux gave Kylo a single, unfazed blink, wondering if they were about to have a repeat of the situation with Leia's funeral. He kind of wanted to provoke the man, for reasons Hux couldn't articulate to himself. Ren's expression was mostly unreadable.

"Refer to her with the utmost respect," Ren ordered.

"As you command."

Kylo turned back to watching the others. "What's behind this insolence? It's been building for days."

"You are-" Hux cut himself off. His voice was more strident than was appropriate for keeping their conversation private. "Read my mind." A moment later, Hux felt the intrusion.  _You are not behaving in the way I expect. What am I to do with this? Am I in charge? You are allowing me too much free rein! I should have Peavey bombard the entire complex. He's loyal to me, not so much to you, as you said. It would seal this information breach, wipe out the Resistance leadership, get rid of you, and send a clear signal to everyone in the New Republic that the First Order is willing to sacrifice anyone in order to destroy our enemies._

"Even you?"

_I am immaterial. Even me. You have done nothing to prevent me from doing this. You even caught the essence of the plan earlier, though you called it a 'safety net'. It's not a safety net, Ren! It's treason! I was contemplating treason and not being careful enough to keep it out of my thoughts. I was being careless and you are doing nothing about it!_

"Yeah," Ren said simply, "I knew."

"Then why aren't you doing something about it?" Hux couldn't keep himself from bursting out. Everyone at the Resistance table stopped and looked over.

Ren shrugged. "You can be in charge. I don't care. Be the supreme leader."

Hux struggled for a moment, flabbergasted. "What?"

"You'd be a good one. It's what you want. You've always wanted it. Everyone knows that."

Hux looked over at the others, who were staring. They'd clearly heard. Then he looked back to Ren. "But … you're … abdicating? Are you serious? Have you gone mad?"

Ren shrugged again like the title was unimportant to him.

"How dare you act like who leads the First Order is meaningless!" Hux snapped in a fury. "I won't let you!"

"Fine."

Hux raised a hand as though to point at Kylo and then realized what he'd just done. He'd just declined the opportunity to be the supreme leader. He unleashed a bitter dressing-down of his own commanding officer, in public. "This has to be a joke! All of it. It's the only sane explanation. The offer wasn't valid in the first place. You have a sickening sense of humor!"

Ren was entirely unruffled. He gave Hux a sly, infuriating smile. "It was valid. If you change your mind, let me know. It's a very stressful job and you're the one who makes it possible. If you're going to fight me, then you can have it. I'd rather not find out if I can use the Force to stop the orbital fire from two dreadnoughts simultaneously."

"Well," Hux collected himself, blinking. He still didn't know if Ren was serious, but … maybe? "There … is probably a limit to it." He paled as he realized the extent of disrespect he'd just delivered to someone who might actually be able to stop that much firepower. He supposed it was time to grovel. "My most abject apologies, Sup-"

"Shh. No," Ren cut him off with a quick shake of his head. "Let me tell you about Anakin Skywalker instead." Hux stared at him for the abrupt change in subject. Ren went on, "He used the Force once to land a Providence-class dreadnought on Coruscant. The engines were nonfunctional. All he had was steering jets and he even landed it from orbit, onto an airfield. No casualties. It was incredible. I've seen video of it." Ren looked very taken with this piece of information.

"Ah." Hux straightened and collected himself. Obviously, Ren had no interest in seeing him grovel. It took him several beats before he nodded a couple times and said weakly, "Yes. Darth Vader again. At least now I know you haven't been replaced by a clone. I … was wondering."

"I like think if I had any clones, they would also appreciate him, so that's not really conclusive."

"Allow me my illusions, Ren."

"Okay."

* * *

"What did we just see?" Finn whispered about the bizarre behavior from the two highest-ranking First Order officers. They'd overheard everything Hux had said (all of it had been loud except the very end) and about half of what Kylo Ren had said (all of which had been at a conversational tone).

Poe snorted softly and answered just as quietly. "I think we just saw a power-hungry madman get completely shut down. That's a good thing."

"What do you mean?" Finn asked.

"I'm starting to think Ren's heart's in the right place," Poe answered.

"It is," Rey said patiently. "I've been telling you that all along."

Poe shrugged. "Kind of hard to believe until you see it. Looking the way he does. With the people he's with and the things he's done. Especially the things he's done. You know?"

"I don't believe it," Finn said.

Rey sighed. "Then let's get back to work on this," she gestured at the plans they'd been going over.


	22. Rey and Hux Talk It Out

**A/N: Hux and Arkanis, Hux and Jakku, Hux and his parents, kids on First Order ships – all canon.**

_Day 8_

Rey waited until Grand Marshal Hux set down his datapad that evening and let his eyes roam over the room. He wasn't alone at the table, but it was still the best moment Rey had seen to approach him. She walked over and took a seat diagonally across the end of the table from him.

"M'lady," he said unexpectedly to her, with a slight inclination of his head.

"M- what?"

"The Supreme Leader Kylo Ren has instructed me to refer to you with the utmost respect. Therefore," he inclined his head to her again, enunciating clearly, "My lady." Rey made an embarrassed smile at Ben doing that. Hux studied her features. "However, if that form of address does not please you, then I will of course use any other that you dictate."

Rey shook her head. "Just Rey."

"Just Rey," he repeated, as though the 'Just' was part of her name, some shortened form of 'Justice'.

"No," she said seriously, thinking he had misunderstood her. "Rey. Rey, all by itself."

"Ah, of course," Hux nodded just as seriously. "Prince Ben Organa Solo of Alderaan, member of the royal family of Naboo, scion of the house of Skywalker, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren of the First Order, Lord Kylo Ren of the Knights of Ren, and … Rey." He smiled at her in gentle teasing.

Humor (that wasn't bitter or mean) was something she hadn't seen from Hux before, so she laughed. "Okay, that does sound silly. But I have no titles. I don't want any."

"Mm," Hux hummed. "Ren said as much, now that I think of it. But it would still be to my benefit for him to see me as showing you every politeness. He has been rather sensitive recently to slights against the women in his life and my last comment about you to him earned the label of insolence. Would you do me the favor of passing along to him that when I refer to you as 'Rey' all by itself, that this is by your wish?"

"Yes, I will." She was left wondering what he'd said that Ben characterized as 'insolent'.

"Good." Hux stared off across the room, obviously dismissing her. Then he caught himself and looked back to her. "Thank you. Of course."

"You don't have to talk to people very often like this, do you? Politely, I mean."

He raised a brow and made an expressive half-shrug. "One of the benefits of rank, I suppose. But no. Politeness is not normally a requirement."

"Speaking of rank and politeness," Rey said, "how would you like me to refer to you?"

"Ruler of the galaxy," he said with a smirk. "It has a nice ring to it."

Eddiva, at the same table and reviewing her own datapad, coughed to cover a chortle. Hux looked over at her with an indulgent look as she fixed her expression back to neutral. He looked back to Rey and said, "My rank is grand marshal of the First Order. My name is Armitage Hux. I have granted permission to no one except Phasma to use my first name, although Ren has occasionally done so since becoming supreme leader. His rank allows it, he has limited himself to when we are private or nearly so, and he seems to use it only for a sort of respectful emphasis. I don't mind, but I never told him he could use it. You may call me Hux, Grand Marshal, or Grand Marshal Hux. Commander or Sir would not be appropriate unless you were in the First Order."

"Thank you, Hux," Rey said. After a moment, she said awkwardly, "I don't talk to people like this very often either. I'm not good at small talk …" she trailed off and looked at her lap.

He looked over her face in detail, a penetrating, calculating look that shifted back to polite indifference as soon as she looked up at him, but she'd caught what he was doing anyway. He asked, "Did you spend your entire life on Jakku?"

"Yes." She felt shamed by that, even though she knew it was unfair. The recitation of Ben's many titles along with this man's rank and place in the world tasted sour in her mouth. He could jokingly claim to be the ruler of the galaxy and it wasn't that far off from the truth. She, on the other hand, was only Rey.

"I spent some time there myself," he offered, "when I was a small boy."

"What?" She looked up in surprise that they had anything at all in common, especially 'just about nowhere' Jakku.

"Yes," he said. "I was five or six at the time. It's the earliest memory I have of being planetside. Before that, I only have a vague impression on being on a shuttle leaving Arkanis. They were under siege." He sounded thoughtful, as though remembering it for the first time in a long while. "My mother was left behind. She wasn't allowed to come with us. I assume she perished. I can't remember what she looked like." He sounded indifferent about it, but Rey didn't think he really was.

"Did you have your father with you, at least?"

He glanced up at her with a twist of his lips that could have been a smile, but she sensed it was much darker. "Yes."

"Oh." She could feel a little bit of the dark side revealed in that one-word answer, which was unusual coming from someone null in the Force. There was a history there and not a good one.

He shrugged. "This is a matter of public record, for the most part. If anyone were interested," he added dismissively.

"I'm interested. What part of Jakku were you on?"

"That I don't recall. I'd have to look at the records myself to get the local name. For us, it was just the imperial base, the Observatory. As I said, I was not very old. I remember it being very dusty. We had to wear respirators to go outside on all but the stillest of days. One of the other boys claimed he didn't need a mask and the rest of us were weak for wearing them. He could hardly breathe by the end of the day. He was an object lesson to the rest of us."

She nodded. She wasn't sure which part of Jakku that would be, but there were many districts with light, fine, dangerous dusts. "I'll bet he wore a mask after that."

"No. He was dead."

"What?" She didn't understand. "You were on an imperial base. Didn't you have medbays?"

"Yes, but what point is an object lesson if the damage is cured? Besides, he was only a boy. Children are easy to acquire and there were plenty being brought in for purchase. They were cheap in the wake of the war. Disposable. That, too, was part of the lesson."

She blinked at him, a feeling of cold washing over her and not entirely from the inhumanity of his story. She remembered the ship leaving, Ben reminding her she'd been sold for drinking money, her parents dead in the desert. "How many other children were there?"

He shrugged. "Many. We recruited through Jakku for more than a decade, among other worlds. Jakku was low profile, but frequented by enough ships coming for salvage that it was easy for them to bring in human cargo and leave with parts."

Memories came flooding back to her in a wash. She put her elbows on the table and face into her hands. The ship leaving. An imperial insignia on the side of the ship. They'd refused to take her. Unkar Plott's hand on her arm. Unkar wanted his money's worth. He'd bought her for a profitable resale, but the imperial shipment was already full. They didn't need a scrawny girl. Her parents wouldn't buy her back when Unkar dragged her back to them. They'd been drunk. They died. She was worthless, a nothing, even to slavers, even to her own parents.

"Are you well?" Hux asked.

She couldn't tell from his tone if he was concerned or just being polite. Either way, she lifted her head and said, "I was supposed to be one of those slaves."

"Pity," he said pitilessly. "The First Order's loss."

She stared at him, wondering how he could be so heartless with something he probably thought was a compliment. Had he no understanding at all of what that meant? He had to! He'd been there. And suddenly she realized, "You were one of those slaves." Because he had to have been.

He flinched at her words. He gave Rey a somewhat threatening expression. "I was in the care and training of my father, the esteemed Commandant Brendol Hux, as he worked out the cadet training program I would later adapt for the First Order as a whole. I was his acknowledged son. To insinuate otherwise is highly offensive."

None of that mattered any more than Ben being a Skywalker. It hadn't protected him. She doubted 'Brendol Hux' had protected his son. That 'yes' from earlier had fairly dripped with loathing. "Does it make it any better," she asked, "that the slave master was your own father?"

"My father is dead and I am the grand marshal of the First Order." Hux made the barest nod to her. "That is what makes it better."

So, no. Brendol had not protected his son, she saw. He'd been taken from his home at a vulnerable age and exploited by the primary authority figure in his life. "We have," she said slowly, "more in common than I thought."

He huffed and gestured across the room at Kylo Ren. "That's the more significant thing we have in common."

He referred to Ben as a 'thing' she noticed, but decided not to say anything of it. She was still wrapping her mind around the difference in how he must perceive humanity if he'd been raised by the First Order's slave procurer and treated no differently than the children he'd bought. Rey thought about what Poe had told her about Hux's background effecting his entire moral framework, and what Leia had said of Finn not being able to immediately shake off twenty years of being a stormtrooper. Then, there was Ben, who had been in the Order for most of a decade. "What would life be like with him," she asked Hux about Ben, "if I were to join him?"

"It could be very good, assuming he's a tolerable companion. I can't vouch for that and he's had no previous ones I could tell you about. For material things, you'd want for little. The supreme leader can theoretically bankrupt the First Order pursuing his own fancies or providing to his favorites, although Ren hasn't shown much propensity for that in his first few days. His major expenses have been a single grey mourning cloak. Hardly excessive, under the circumstances, especially given that traditional Naboo style calls for much more flamboyant garb, which he does have a propensity for."

She nodded, but remained quiet. Would Ben be a tolerable companion? She thought so. (Or he'd be better. Hux had a low bar for a pairing.) She was beginning to think so even more during these negotiations. He was calmer than she'd ever seen him, considerate, intelligent, sensitive as he always had been to her. She'd seen him be gallant for people besides herself and be patient with people who didn't understand what he was trying to communicate. He did not always communicate well, but she could hardly fault him for it since it wasn't one of her strengths either.

Hux had relaxed from the insult about his lineage. He did her the favor of carrying the conversation, just as he had earlier. He complained about his boss in a good-humored tone. "In the past, he has been truly high maintenance in that area. The size of his wardrobe budget!" Hux rolled his eyes. "As though there is some problem with the conventional uniform. Custom clothing! Custom mask! Custom TIE silencer! Not even sensible modifications, either, but things like removing the safeguards against power surges, inertial dampening, and rotational blocking so that no one can safely fly the thing but him!" Hux snorted.

"He's so taken with that ship that he monopolized one of the repair crews on day one as supreme leader to get his squad back in operation. I had rescue transports that could have used those resources! When I confronted him about it, he insisted it was important, as though if a fleet showed up to threaten us, that he might make some meaningful difference in facing them down – him and a handful of TIE fighters in the face of dreadnoughts." He scoffed.

"Luke Skywalker faced down the First Order with nothing but a laser sword," Rey pointed out.

Hux frowned at her, but considered what she'd said. Poe Dameron and a handful of bombers had managed against the  _Fulminatrix_. Maybe Ren had been right. "Perhaps there is a reason why Snoke saw fit to fund the Knights of Ren, expensive though they are. Kylo crashed the silencer in the hangar bay when he returned, in any case." Hux sighed, then smiled. "Actually, I was rather cheered by that. It was humanizing to see him showing some strain around the edges in a relatable way. That first day was difficult for both of us and much longer than I wanted it to be. He did at least do what I'd asked – he stayed out of my way and that was the worst problem he caused me."

Rey smiled to herself about the crashed silencer. That had been her fault, although Hux was ascribing the accident to stress. He seemed content enough with his explanation for it that she didn't correct him.

"But back to you," Hux said, "Ren has not, as of yet, moved into the quarters his rank accords him, but the supreme leader's private chambers are extensive. If you would prefer to be berthed separately, there are many quarters to choose from. Our staffing level is low."

"Is it normal for officers to have … um … a partner with them?"

"Yes," Hux said. "Very much so. Both would be employed by the Order. Troopers are on a hormone regulation treatment to suppress their drives in that direction, but that does not extend to officers or technicians above a certain grade unless they choose to take the medication. Children of the upper ranks are considered freeborn. Unlike slaves, there are many choices for their career opportunities. You, and any children you might have, would have access to a wide array of training and educational options."

"Ha," she gave a faint laugh at how presumptuous he was about the future of her relationship with Ben. She and Ben had done no more than kiss – once. "Children? On a star ship?"

"Of course. Where else would they be?"

She blinked at him, remembering Finn saying how odd it was to grow up on a planet. The norm as Finn knew it was that children grew up elsewhere: on starships and bases. She had assumed most of them were on the planetary training bases like the ones they'd reviewed that morning. "Wait, there are children on First Order ships … routinely?" Somehow, she hadn't connected Finn's comments with that possibility.

"Yes."

"Those ships the  _Raddus_  rammed in the Battle of Crait – there were children on them?" She wanted to be absolutely sure she was understanding this right and it wasn't some odd cultural difference.

He blinked a couple times, his expression hardening slightly. "Yes." After a beat, he added, "They are not there as human shields or with any expectation the Resistance, the New Republic, or anyone else will hold their fire. They are there because we do not require families to choose between their offspring or serving the Order. Having and raising children serves the Order all by itself. It increases morale and loyalty. The subadults man duty stations and serve admirably. Our officer cadre has to come from somewhere and it's not going to be from slaves or the general mass of stormtroopers. The occasional one might be promoted beyond their origins, but it's not common."

It had probably never occurred to Finn to mention there were kids and noncombatants aboard star destroyers because it was so normal from his point of view that it went without saying. Then there was this weird caste system Hux kept mentioning. "That class system doesn't matter the same way in the rest of the galaxy."

"It matters everywhere," he said. "You're just used to not seeing it. Where do you think the First Order finds all of these slaves that we train into citizens who become workers or troops?" She didn't answer. Slaves, citizens, workers, troops – there was a meaning to each category that he saw as important. To her they were all the same. He continued, "We're nearly all pure human and no planet in the Unknown Regions has a native human population. What remnants of the Empire that formed our core certainly didn't reproduce that quickly and I have refused to go the route of clones so long as there are such recruits available.

"Why do you think I have such disdain for the self-righteous, hypocritical lies spewed by the New Republic? When I have millions of their children enrolled in my training programs, when every day I see the sons and daughters of their people, treated like trash, thrown away for a few credits and sometimes not even that?" His voice quieted, "Sometimes, Rey, they're  _given to us_ , especially after war. The poor and the desperate of the New Republic sold us their children in the hope they will have enough to eat, that they would grow, learn discipline, and bring justice to the galaxy." With a vicious, passionate tone, he concluded, "The ruling classes of the New Republic can burn for all I care. The First Order has risen to make things right!"

He wasn't a demagogue, she realized – a leader pandering to ignorance and prejudice, advancing himself through deceit. Hux believed this. He was deeply emotionally invested in it, managing to incorporate in himself the backgrounds of both slaves and the privileged, driven to bring the First Order to greatness out of his own sense of inadequacy. She understood, suddenly, what Poe meant by being able to reason with him. It gave her new fire for the argument. "It's not right if you're the ones enabling the system by paying for them! You're rewarding people for selling their children."

"We hardly pay anything for them," he dismissed. "What should I do? Leave them to starve? Despite the few who die during training, I guarantee there would be greater mortality if we didn't take them."

"They're not-" Rey shook her head. "If you're able to transport them, train them, feed them the whole while, and turn them into stormtroopers, then you could have helped them where they were. I say again, you are enabling the largest-scale slavery ring in the galaxy."

"Then there would be no First Order!"

"Exactly! You're not doing this to save people. You're doing it to rule over them."

"You insult me!" he said with a snarl. "I'm not going to deny the desire to rule, but finding purpose for the dregs of the galaxy is a central motivation here. Deny it as you wish, but we have other options. I have dedicated my life to these people – to the First Order, not to Snoke, or Ren, or the High Command. None of them! To the Order. Itself."

That gave her pause. She was reminded of how Ben had sunk the tendrils of the Force into the mind of Captain Gracynn, appealing to his loyalty to the Order, not to his sense of self-preservation or anything selfish, but his loyalty to the group he knew as his family. That was how she could get through to Hux as well. Softly, she said, "We're both on the same side, trying to protect people – all of them. Your people. Do you see that?"

"Well," he sounded reluctant to admit, but finally, "yes. But that may be only because the Resistance, as a functional group, is no more. Your interests would be different otherwise."

"Now you're insulting me," she pointed out. "The Resistance lives on, Grand Marshal. And maybe," here Rey used his own words against him, "you're just not used to seeing it. Where do you think the Resistance finds all these rebels who join our forces to oppose you? We don't pay them. All of our funds go to equipment and food. We're not some ruling class of the New Republic, getting rich at this. We're dying, willing to die, to stop you. If you care about people like you say, then we don't need to do this anymore. We can be on the same side. No First Order. No New Republic. No Resistance."

He made a controlled sigh and looked out over the room. Rey let him think it over. Finally, he said, "When Ren and I sat down to discuss this mission, these negotiations, I saw it as an opportunity to gather information on what was left of the Resistance and gage how cooperative the wealthier planets of the New Republic would be in bowing to us. It was something we needed to know before committing to addressing our problem with the First Order core worlds.

"In the best case scenario, something would happen that would legitimize us destroying you – either picking your ships out of space or a blitz from orbit. Your Ren, however, is an honorable man and was clear this had to be faultless on our side. No engineering of the situation, no provocation by us, we had to be entirely blameless or he would- Well, suffice it to say he was graphic. Given the power disparity, it was unlikely to happen and it has not happened. As I expected, no one has desired to suicide in the face of our strength."

Rey raised her brows, realizing that the First Order armada's early arrival on the evening of Leia's funeral, was probably Hux's idea. It had been a provocation all by itself. It explained why Ben didn't understand the problem that caused, and once Rey explained it to him, there was still nothing he could do about it – their ships were in orbit. Ben couldn't do everything and the actual timeline had likely been left to the grand marshal to arrange.

Hux had also been the one, she recalled, demanding tribute – another attempt at provocation, she saw now, one that had evaporated once the grand marshal was on the ground. Poe had spoken strongly about the dangers of Hux leaning on Ren, guiding him in directions that weren't good for the Resistance. It was clearly true. If she hadn't gone to meet Ben that night, Hux would have done his best to push the whole thing back into war. Possibly, without even meaning to.

Hux went on, "The worst case scenario is what you're trying to lure us into – some sort of alliance or merger that negates the victories we've won." Hux pursed his lips and looked away.

"What did you think was going to happen?" she asked. "The war is over. It's not a victory if you have to keep fighting."

"That is true," he said quietly after a beat.

"I've talked this over with the other people in the Resistance. It's a big help to us to have," she used Ben's other name because it was more familiar to Hux, "Kylo Ren on our side."

Hux gave her a dubious look. "You think he's on your side? Yours, particularly, I'll agree, but the Resistance? No."

"Being an honorable man, then. We need people negotiating in good faith. It's equally important that we have  _you_. And the High Command. And the governors of the planets in the Unknown Regions. It's been more than fifty years since the Galactic Republic fairly represented the interests of all and was suborned by the Sith. You hate Force users. You hate what it does to people. You hate how it contaminates everything. Will you help us go back to a government that doesn't rely on that? Where you don't have a supreme leader using massive scale Jedi mind tricks to sway troopers and officers programmed from the beginning to loyalty in a way that makes it easy for a Force user to manipulate them?"

She had his entire attention – that focused, calculating look she'd been aware of from before, the one he'd quickly cloaked in civility when she'd raised her eyes. It was open, now, his expression unguarded. She went on, "You know more than any what the First Order was made for. It was made for people like Snoke. It was made for a darker version of Kylo Ren. He has come to me since becoming supreme leader and begged me to help him, to find ways that he can do what he has to do without giving himself over to darkness. I'm trying to help him. I'm trying to help you. Poe's trying to help, with calling Ben out on violating people's minds and how much that corrupts relationships. And with telling you, there's an alternative to bowing."

"Your Kylo Ren would have to step down."

"He's willing to. He told you that today."

Hux swallowed. "I still have difficulty imagining he was serious."

"He was."

Hux moved a few fingers back and forth along the edge of the table. "This may be useful in how we address things with the High Command. It opens up possible compromises I … wasn't willing to consider before." He glanced over at Eddiva, who had been sitting there quietly for the entire conversation, her eyes glued to her datapad. "You should at least scroll through your information from time to time. Staring at the same page for minutes at a stretch makes it look like you're eavesdropping."

She didn't look up. But she did scroll to the next page. Hux chuckled and looked away. "Thank you, Rey," he said in an authentic voice. "It is not often I am required to be polite to people and even more rare that they challenge my views. I look forward to more of both from you."


	23. Ice Cream Socializing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the chapter with explicit content. No other warnings - it's kink-free, consensual stuff.

**A/N: This is the chapter that's NC-17. It's explicit, but I don't think it needs warnings other than that.**

_Day 8_

Poe caught Hux's eye before the First Order group headed out for the night. This time, Poe noted, Hux didn't look at him like he was deranged for jerking his head to one side and 'pointing' with his eyes to indicate he wanted Hux to come over. With a nod to the others, Hux excused himself and walked over. "What is it?" Hux asked.

"You want to spend some time tonight? I found some strawberry ice cream."

Hux scoffed and smiled.

"Yeah," Poe said softly, drawing the word out, because Hux looked charmed and still, a little exasperated by Poe's interest.

"Why do you do this?" Hux asked, looking genuinely curious. "You know I will not tell you anything of use."

Poe stared into those icy green eyes for a long moment, before looking down. He said, "I want, that the next time you're looking down a blaster at me or getting ready to open fire," Poe looked up at him again, "for you to … just pause. Hesitate. Open a comm channel. And tell me to knock it the fuck off."

Hux's brows drew together slightly. "You wouldn't. Even if I did."

"I would," Poe said sincerely. "I would, because if I'm putting you in the position of shooting me to stop me from doing something, then I need the wake-up call. I've already done something wrong. You're a reasonable man, Hux. We can talk it out. That's all I really want." His voice was gentle, yearning, and hopeful, a careful and intentional choice of tone, just as the slow wandering of his eyes over Hux's face was intended to convey how much he liked looking at him. It was easy to feel that way. Not even Poe knew if it was real or not, but he was trying with everything he had to break through to the guy.

Hux shook his head slowly. "I'm not a reasonable man. I'm a fanatic. I will disappoint you."

"Who told you that?" Poe said with a mild tone of challenge, because those weren't labels people came up with for themselves all on their own.

"Snoke. He would know … everything about me."

"Are you going to let him define you forever? He's dead. Why are you still letting him rule you?"

Hux swallowed, blinked a few times, and took several deeper breaths. His lips pursed slightly. "Yes," he said haltingly, "I would … like to enjoy ice cream with you … tonight."

"Good." Poe looked at him approvingly. "Let's go back to my place." As they headed off, he added quietly, "You're not a disappointment, Hux."

The man reached up a gloved hand to pat Poe on the shoulder. "You may call me Armitage if you prefer."

Back at the door, Kylo Ren watched them go, noticing Hux hadn't asked for his permission, told him where he was going, or for how long. It was a terrible breach of protocol. Ren smiled after them and headed off to the First Order shuttles. He smiled the whole way there.

* * *

Hux looked around the small room he assumed Poe had been loaned by the Naboo royal family, diplomatic arm, or some such. Poe followed him in. It featured a bed, a desk, and a refresher, and when he walked in, the area was occupied by a rolling droid who took one look at him and charged, spewing something vile in binary.

Hux grimaced, understanding enough of what the thing was saying to get the message – it recognized him; it harbored un-droid-like opinions about his moral deficiencies; and he wasn't authorized to be in here.

"Hey. Whoa!" Poe literally stuck his foot between them. "BB-8! No, this is fine." Poe went to a knee, wedging himself between them. That meant the droid had to roll backwards, because Hux didn't budge an inch. Poe's folded thigh was actually in contact with Hux's shin.

"It's okay," Poe continued, touching the thing on its insensitive metal side. "Buddy. I'm going to have to have you take off for a little while. Give us some privacy. Maybe an hour or so …" He looked up at Hux's impassive face, then back to the droid. "Maybe longer. I'll call you when you should come back. Okay?"

The droid noisily repeated his reservations about allowing this particular person into Poe's quarters, or leaving Poe alone with him. 'Starkiller' was in there somewhere, as a name rather than the location. Hux had been called that before the base had ever been built. He'd been one of the primary architects of the place. He knew most meant it as a condemnation, but he was amused by it. It was probably the greatest and most terrible accomplishment of his career.

"Yeah, I get that," Poe answered the droid's concerned beeping. "It's good, though. I'm sure. I'll call you." He stood up and maneuvered around Hux to get the door. Hux supposed he had to move as well to clear the tiny hallway so the orange-and-white droid could roll outside.

As the thing went outside, Hux asked, "Is that the astromech droid everyone was looking for last week?"

"Yeah," Poe said, shutting the door. "Yeah, it is." The look he gave Hux held some reservations about admitting that.

"Hm." Hux moved into the part of the room featuring the bed and desk, looking at a few bags of gear stowed in the corner. "I don't recall seeing a droid on Ren's rescindment list."

Poe had ducked into the refresher. Apparently, there was a cooler tucked in there, because he had a carton of ice cream with him when he came out, along with a pair of bowls and spoons. He put them on the desk and opened the carton. "Ren's what?"

Hux moved between the bed and wall, looking at the objects scattered on the nightstand. One prominently located on the corner was a bottle of clear gel or oil. The label said, 'Massage Magic' with a brand name. "A few days before we came to Naboo, Ren went through the lists of active bounties we're offering and rescinded many of them. I assume most were Resistance members who died at the Battle of Crait, but a few were believed to have survived. His mother, for example. Yourself. The traitor. He's been pardoned, by the way. I would have objected strongly to that, but he didn't ask for my input."

"There are bounties out on us?"

Hux was looking at the neatly made bed, wondering if Poe had made it himself or room service had done it. "They're more there for discouragement. And they aren't now in any case. Mere membership in the Resistance was not sufficient by whatever standard Ren was applying. He left in place the ones who had committed known and material crimes." Hux looked over at Poe, who was approaching him with two bowls of ice cream. "Crimes outside of active engagement, that is."

Poe handed over one of the bowls. "But there wasn't a droid on there?"

"I'll check." Hux looked over at Poe and added, "For your sake. Droids show up on a different list. It probably slipped Ren's mind. We've been quite busy."

"I'll bet." Poe took a seat on the edge of the bed, so Hux joined him there.

He took up a spoonful, scraping off the softer, melting surface rather than digging into the harder frozen part. He slipped the spoon into his mouth, sucking it clean with an appreciative noise. "Oh, that's very good. Thank you," Hux said as he collected a second spoonful. "It's touching that you remembered."

"No big deal," Poe said, messing with his own, but mostly watching Hux eat. "Armitage."

"Hm?"

"Just trying it out," Poe said.

"Is Poe short for anything?"

"No, that's the name. Poe Dameron."

Hux nodded.

Poe asked, "You call the other guy Ren. You ever call him Ben Solo?"

"No. That's not his name."

"Did Snoke call him that – Kylo Ren?"

"I don't know," Hux said. "I was introduced to him as Kylo Ren of the Knights of Ren, some years ago. Names have some importance in the First Order. It's common to reject an old one when joining. It would rude for someone else to use the old one, tantamount to implying their conversion was insincere."

"He used it the other day to the Naboo."

Hux shrugged. "Obviously, he's going through a transition. And besides, stressing his ancestry here, on Naboo, has a certain political usefulness that it does not have, day to day on a star destroyer."

"Yeah, suppose so."

"He's the mind-reader, not me. I don't know what goes on in his head."

Poe chuckled and went back to his ice cream, making some headway on it while they sat together. "You guys have ice cream in the First Order?"

"Of course." Hux gave Poe an amused look. "We are not monks, or barbarians. But I don't think about having it very often. This is a rare treat. It's better than the Order serves."

"Oh yeah? That's good."

Poe was watching him eat with fascination, so Hux made a show of sucking his spoon clean, just to watch the interest on the man's face. It was flattering. Hux nodded towards the bottle on the night stand. "I see that you had other ideas than merely ice cream."

"Yeah, I did." Poe gave him a flirty smile. "Take your shirt off, and anything else you want, and I'll give you a proper rubdown like I couldn't last night."

Hux set aside his bowl on the nightstand. He slipped off his gloves and unbuttoned his jacket, putting both at the head of the bed next to the pillow. His undershirt followed, but that was as far as he went. He scratched idly under the edge of the knife scabbard and looked over his shoulder at the bed.

"Yeah," Poe said of his look. "If you'll lay out right there, that'd be fine. How'd you get that thing past security, anyway? Did Ren do that for you? We had a long talk with them about what he could do."

"No. They took him through separately, as you probably directed them to do." Hux climbed onto the bed. "I convinced the Gungan it was an orthopedic apparatus, a brace, for my crippling carpel tunnel issues. I made sure he noted it down as such so no one else would question me about it on subsequent trips."

"You're kidding me," Poe said, laughing because it looked nothing like a brace. It looked like a kriffing knife.

"No. Just standard deceit. I'm a very skilled liar when I wish to be." Hux stretched out. "You obsess over the danger Ren poses and overlook the rest of us. And anyway, that's what you get for assigning a non-human to security."

"Hey," Poe said, "I quit overlooking you as soon as we were introduced. You have something against non-humans?"

"No." He wiggled into the soft mattress a little more. "But they are more easily misled when it comes to human medical problems."

Poe took up the bottle of massage oil. "You guys don't have many non-humans in the First Order, do you?"

"Mm, no. It's more about uniformity and a refusal to make accommodations than anything else. We have issues with the humans, too. Take someone like Brumos, for example. He's pure human, if you take a liberal interpretation of it, but he wouldn't fit in a cockpit without significant alterations. That's a reason why he ended up working for Snoke, who wasn't human either. They're both larger than standard human scale. The same applies to Eddiva in the opposite direction. She's short for combat roles and so she specialized in other disciplines. I'm not saying we don't have some prejudices that need stamping out, but remaining pure is more about ideology than species."

"That's good to hear. I guess," Poe said. He touched Hux over the lower back. "I'm going to climb on top of you, okay?"

"You're going to what?" Hux lifted his head and shoulders, turning to look back warily.

Poe met his eyes and moved his hand down to the waistband of Hux's breeches. "I'm going to swing my leg over your backside and sit on your butt. Otherwise, it's tough to be symmetrical in massaging you. I'm letting you know," he said slowly.

Hux didn't say anything, just looked at him, so Poe put a knee on the mattress next to Hux's hip and proceeded to do exactly what he'd said. Hux watched this, tensing as Poe settled his weight on him. He could tell Poe was being careful the entire time, watching him, and not making any fast movements. As though Hux were some easily startled animal. Hux huffed and turned away, trying to calm himself down. He put his face in the mattress, forehead against it, and breathed slowly.

"We good?" Poe asked after a few moments of being perfectly still. Hux nodded. He didn't speak. He wondered what it was about him that let Poe so precisely know his buttons. But then again, this was hardly an uncommon sensitivity. Poe was riding his ass in a thoroughly dominant position. The sexual nature of it was difficult to get past; Hux had been clear from the start he wasn't into that; and Poe had been equally clear that he wouldn't do what Hux forbid. So really, the man's caution made sense.

"Okay. Here's the oil." Poe put it on his hands first and spread it in slow strokes. The required leaning and shifting on Hux's hindquarters was disturbing, but not unbearable. The contact and petting was nice enough to be worth it. Then the actual massage started and it was heavenly, despite the occasional sore spots where lingering bruises still afflicted him.

Strong hands rubbed and kneaded at his shoulders, then upper back, then mid-back, then lower. Hux tensed again, not able to stop himself from looking back in alarm. It hurt on one side where he'd been slammed against a bulkhead hip-first and besides, he didn't want Poe touching him that far down. Poe headed back up without a word and didn't return that low again, concentrating on spine and shoulder blades. Hux flopped back down.

By the time Poe was working on deltoids and trapezius, Hux had relaxed entirely and was moaning with pleasure. It became more intense as the man worked up the back of his neck, fluffing the hair at the base of his skull and working his fingers around behind Hux's ears. "Ah," Hux murmured, "yess …"

Poe's fingers scratched at the back of his head. "I have a comb, but no gel or anything. You want me to keep going?"

"Yes, please." Hux sighed into the mattress. "They already think we're fucking. Except Ren. Who was … surprised, I think, that we weren't."

"Yeah?" Poe paused to wipe his hands on his thighs, getting any excess oil off of them before sinking them into Hux's hair.

"At least," Hux said, "he didn't believe me when I said we didn't. He had to, oh!" Hux huffed, sighed, and groaned in what even Hux knew was a sexual fashion, "dig, ah, further."

"That, uh, mind-reading stuff?" Poe asked. It was difficult to lean in enough to use both hands and yet not pitch forward.

"Yes. Mmm. Please … don't annoy him too much about that. What he does to other people if you want to … Rey told me … But leave him alone on my account. We're working that out ourselves. He's letting me stand up to him. I don't need your interference complicating things."

Poe was quiet for a moment. Hux helpfully filled the silence with muffled sounds of pleasure as Poe massaged his scalp and mishandled his hair. "Got it," Poe finally said.

"Good," Hux said of the answer. "This is very good," he said, meaning the massage.

Poe took a fistful of his hair and arched him upwards. Hux chuffed out air as Poe leaned in to whisper in his ear, one hand braced on the mattress next to him. "Don't think it means I don't care, though."

"Your concern is noted," Hux said when Poe released him. "I'm not a child at this."

"Oh yeah," Poe said wistfully, running his fingers down Hux's back to the small of it. "I know that." He tickled there. Hux looked back at him with a smile, twitching a little at it. This didn't bother him like the rubbing had. Poe dismounted and stood next to the bed. "Sit up. Let me get a better angle on your head."

Hux did, eyes sliding mostly shut as he faced Poe and received a second round of hair mussing and scalp massage. He let his appreciation be known, since Poe definitely seemed to enjoy knowing that. Then he noticed the erection in the man's pants, only a foot or so in front of Hux's face. His brows rose and he quieted. He stared at that, thinking.

His silence was probably what caused Poe to stop. The man handed Hux what was left of his ice cream and dropped onto the bed next to him. "You feel better?"

"Wonderful," Hux said, taking a bite. His voice was thick with pleasure. The ice cream was still cold, but nearly all melted - perfection. He watched Poe out of the corner of his eye, but all the guy did was nudge away the oil bottle and eat his own dessert. Hux finished his bowl in another bite. He reached over and took Poe's bowl from him, stacking it on top of Hux's and setting them both aside on the night stand. Poe looked at him uncertainly.

"Here," Hux said, turning back and putting his hand on Poe's far shoulder. He pushed the man backwards onto the bed, following him down.

"Oh?"

"Yes." Hux's hand traveled down Poe's front, over chest and stomach to groin, where it settled over the prominent erection.

"Oh!" Poe started to turn towards him.

"No," Hux said gently. "I would prefer you on your back." He began to caress Poe through his slacks. Dameron seemed at a loss as to what to do with his hands. "Lie still," Hux said quietly.

It wasn't something Hux had any practice with. He'd touched himself in the unusual times the urge struck, but he'd never handled another person in arousal. It wasn't arousing now, either, at least for him, but he was grateful for what had been done for him thus far. Poe's restraint during all of this was certainly appreciated. He stroked up and down, amused and interested by the way Poe's hips shifted and his mouth opened, eyes shut, hands finally occupied with clenching at the blankets.

Hux kept it up until his arm began to grow tired and his efforts less coordinated because of it. Perhaps Poe sensed it. In any case, he reached over and grabbed the oil, interrupting Hux's motions so he could dispense some into his palm. "Let me take over now," Poe said, putting his hand into his pants after unbuttoning the fly. His manipulations were much faster and practiced. The oil made lewd noises. Hux, reclined on one elbow, watched as Poe worked himself to a quick orgasm, still fully clothed. Hux decided he had at least gotten the man close. Maybe that counted for something.

Poe looked at him and made a motion with his head as though to lean up and kiss. Hux jerked back an inch. Poe moved slower, snaking out the arm whose hand was clean to hook it behind Hux's head. "Easy," Poe said.

"No."

"Trust me. Okay?" Poe tugged as he pleaded. The angle of his head was different. Hux let himself be pulled forward, reluctantly at first and then relaxing as it became clear there was no kissing involved. Instead, their foreheads touched. Poe petted and stroked the back of Hux's head. Hux liked that. It was a good compromise. He sighed and let his eyes slide shut.

After a few moments, Poe sank back on the bed and looked down the line of Hux's body. He was pointedly looking at his groin, where there was no matching erection. Poe looked up at Hux. "No?"

Hux shook his head. "No. I wanted to reciprocate. It looked like something you'd enjoy. I have no want of my own of that kind."

"Yeah, yeah," Poe said softly, petting Hux's hair a bit more. "You've told me that. I enjoyed what you did. That was generous. Thank you."

"I should be getting back, though." Hux pulled away reluctantly, collecting his undershirt from the top of the bed.

"You could stay the night," Poe offered, still sprawled on the mattress with his legs hanging over the side. "You know, since they already think we're fucking."

"No," Hux saw to the buttons on his shirt. "I need to report in, be present, and accounted for. It's not wise to leave Ren in charge of things for too long."

Poe chuckled. "You two are funny, you know that?"

"Perhaps," Hux allowed, taking up his jacket next. "So are you." He finished dressing as Poe watched, then looked down at him on the bed. "I will miss you," he confessed. They were to leave tomorrow in the morning, with a short ceremony and a general parting of the ways.

"I hope so," Poe said impertinently. "It'd be better if you weren't shooting at me to start with."

It took Hux a moment to get the joke, then he smiled. Poe stuck his hand up. Hux stroked his now-gloved fingers over it, and let himself out.

He only got a few strides away before Poe hurried out after him. The droid beeped uncertainly at the end of the hallway. "Hey, hold up!" Poe waved a comb at him.

Hux rolled his eyes at forgetting a second time. "Ah, yes." He reached for the comb, but Poe evaded him deftly, doing the job himself. The droid rolled up with some inquisitive beeps, followed by something rude about the grand marshal of the First Order letting the leader of the Resistance fix his hair.

"Yes, BB-8," Poe grumbled, "your sensors do not deceive you." To Hux he said, "You look good. Of course," Poe said with a nod, "you looked good to start with, but you're more presentable now."

"Thank you." He glanced down at the droid, who backed up and said something mildly threatening like, 'Don't try it.' He wasn't sure what the thing thought he might do – kick it, maybe? – but he looked back to Poe. "I'll do my best to have it exempted, if it was indeed missed the first time around."

"I appreciate that," Poe nodded.

Hux turned and left for the night.


	24. Sail into Sunrise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This should, theoretically, be the last chapter. I have a terrible record of not being able to walk away from fics, though. But this chapter at least completes the major dramatic arc of Reylo.

_Day 9_

"Have you been out here all night?" Rey said when Ben looked over his shoulder at her. He was sitting cross-legged before Leia's marker. It was near dawn in Theed on Naboo. Dew coated everything, including him. It clung to his dark hair in crystal drops, shaking loose as he turned.

"Since shortly after Hux returned to the shuttles. He wouldn't have coped well if he'd come back to find me missing. I want to encourage whatever ties he can form with the Resistance." Ben moved his hands along his grey cloak, watching how it shed water. It wasn't entirely waterproof; it hung heavy and lank on him after so many hours. He reached up and released the clasp, collecting the soaked fabric and putting it to the side in a wet heap. It had at least done the job of mostly protecting the rest of him from the dew.

He stood, dressed much as she'd seen him in Snoke's throne room – all black, quilted fabric. He bent over to shake the water from his hair, then tried in vain to put his unruly mane and the mourning braid back into place. She smiled at how messy his hair ended up. "The sun will be rising soon," he said to her.

"I know," Rey said, moving to him. She reached up and stroked his hair back from his face and he stilled. "I like how it feels in the Force when that happens. That's why I came out here." That, and to ask Leia's blessing on something, but seeing Ben here was the answer Rey had been looking for. "She passed with the dawn, too. It's important somehow." She let her arms fall, then put them around him, feeling him draw in a deep breath of comfort. He kissed the top of her head and wrapped his arms around her back. They stood together, holding each other, for long minutes.

"I needed to meditate to have the strength for what happens today," he said quietly.

"What would that be?"

"Leaving." The word was laden with melancholy.

She knew he meant leaving her – not Leia's tomb or Naboo. She pressed her fingers to the thick tunic over the small of his back, then higher. "I'm never going to leave you. Not really."

"I know," he said. He dipped his head and spoke in a sacred whisper meant only for her ears, "I love you."

"I love you, too." She hugged him fiercely, her face pressed against the top of his chest.

"I wish," he sighed, "I'd had more time with you here. The only privacy we've had was here, and on the veranda, interrupted by your general."

"He's not my general," she said with a smile, still hugging him. His body was so firm under the clothes. She fit against him perfectly. He was so comforting to hold. It made her feel safe, he was so solid. "I think it's been good, though. It's shown me what you feel is important."

"You're important," he said strongly and immediately.

"I know." She pushed back to look up at him. "But other people are important to you, too. And the things you're willing to do for them, to keep people safe. You're walking a tightrope here. You're doing difficult things. It would be so easy to throw that all aside and come be with me. Or to ignore me and move on. You don't need me."

"Yes, I do."

Rey rolled her eyes. He was determined, that was certain, but she liked that about him. "I know I've helped you, but you're doing a lot of this on your own."

"I have a lot of people working for me now." He sounded confused.

It was … adorable. She smiled. "I know. I meant without me."

"Oh."

"I'm saying this has let me see who you are and who you want to be. A lot more than I knew before."

He reached up and touched her face. His hands were bare and chilled by being outside for so many hours. His gloves were tucked into his belt. She shivered as he drew his fingers along her jawline, then cupped her cheek. "This is who I want to be," he murmured, leaning down to kiss her gently, then more.

She felt heat flush through her as the light from the rising sun struck them both. It took her breath away and she melted into it gratefully and without reservation. He held her tenderly yet desperately. She let herself be lost in him, safe there, loved, cherished, and protected by one who would never abandon her. She knew that truth. It would torment him to leave her today, but he would do it if she required it, just as he'd been tortured every day they'd been apart since that confrontation in Snoke's throne room. But he'd endured it, for her.

The sun was almost above the horizon by the time they finally parted. They held one another and turned to watch it finish rising.

"I will treasure this moment above all others," he said when the golden disk was entirely free of the land. They both blinked away the sunspot in their vision. Ben wiped moisture from the corners of his eyes, then bent to collect his mourning cloak. He shook out a little water and draped it over one arm, then offered the other to her.

Rey took it. Together, they headed back. There would be a short ceremony before the First Order ships departed to their business in the Unknown Regions, with a pit stop by the wreck of the  _Supremacy_  along their way. Finn would follow within a couple days with some ships of the Resistance. They would round up supplies and personnel for what amounted to a humanitarian effort on the rebelling worlds. It was expected they would rendezvous together after the main fleet met with the High Command and forced a decision on the matter of the legitimacy of Kylo Ren as the supreme leader.

* * *

The closing ceremony began with their farewells to their Naboo hosts and ended with a formal good-bye between the Order and the Resistance. Ren had left the speech-making to Hux, assuming his voice even worked by this point. What little he'd said to his people had had a painfully broken tone to it and after a few words of that, Hux kept him shushed and did the talking. Poe gave a few heartfelt words of his own and then there was nothing more for it. They were done.

Rey walked forward before anyone could break to leave. It was a surprising enough motion that all waited in case this was part of the scripted ceremony they'd overlooked. She stopped in front of Ben. He moved his lips like he was trying to swallow back his emotions. He looked at her as though it was both heaven and hell, to be required to confront her again, publicly, upon their parting.

Rey blurted out her prepared line, long since now regretting her impulse to make this a surprise: "I ask permission to go with you on the way to your core worlds." She swallowed tensely. She knew the answer, but she didn't know how Ben would take it. She wasn't agreeing to join him as a ruler – just to go with him, to be with him, by his side as an equal.

If he cared about such a fine distinction, he didn't show it. He was too shocked by the realization he didn't have to be alone, relying on only comm signals and the Force bond for her company. His mouth opened, then shut. "Uh, I-" He looked at Hux, then back to her. "With-?" His eyes were shining with hopeful tears, not sure he could believe what he thought she must mean.

Rey blushed and smiled. It had been so hard to keep her mouth shut that morning even though she'd literally told him she wouldn't leave him. He had not presumed to know her meaning and that was darling, although she knew the cruelty it put him through to think they would separate again.

Hux said quietly to the speechless Ren, "Say, 'Yes, I would be delighted for you to accompany me. My chief of staff has already prepared rooms for you.'"

Ren glanced at him, then parroted to Rey, "Yes, I would be delighted-" His head snapped around to his grand marshal. "You've already prepared rooms? You knew this?"

Hux huffed loudly. "My job is strategy, Ren. It's called a contingency plan!" Ren stared at him, so Hux continued, "You should be looking at her, not me!" Hux moved away to stand next to Poe Dameron.

Ben turned his full attention to Rey. Instead of answering further, he swept her up into his arms and kissed her passionately, cradling the back of her head with one hand and the small of her back with the other. She made a thrilled sound and kicked her feet in unbridled joy as he lifted her.

Poe nudged Hux and said quietly, "That was thoughtful."

Hux said with a fond exasperation, "The only reason I didn't gas the fool in his quarters was because he said he would accept coaching. He's been true to his word."

Poe glanced at him. "No, I meant the rooms. But I suppose the other, too. I didn't know you were that romantic."

Hux sputtered. "I'm not blind!"

"Mm. Well, Rey already has her stuff boxed up," Poe said. "There's not much. You have cargo space on one of those shuttles?"

"Yes. Bring it immediately, though. Shuttle Three. We have a timetable to meet and he's  _still_  not done kissing her."

Poe sized the up the two of them. "Yeah, that might take a while."


	25. Question for readers

(I've settled the question below by starting a separate series.)

Previous question:

I have another 18k or so written, following Rey as she accompanies Ben to the wreck of the _Supremacy_. There is a conflict coming up, but I haven't written it and might not. Right now, I just have the lead-up.

Do you want to read that, or for me to sit on it unless/until I conclude the whole thing?


End file.
